Traveling Through the Ghosts of Time
by Mor de interficio silvam
Summary: Pandora's box is breaking apart, Mikhail is damaged and Verloren's soul is coming closer as each second passes by. Fearing for their Masters' future, Raphael, with the help of Mikhail help send Kal (Ea), Teito, Ouka, Wolfram and Millea back two months around the time when Teito Klein first deserted the military. How will Teito cope with reliving the past again?
1. Book One: Kapitel Zero: Going Back

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN 07-GHOST IN ANY SUCH MANNER OR WAY

PLEASE REVIEW APPROPRIATELY AND RESPECTFULLY! NO CURSING IN YOUR REVIEWS! D:

* * *

"..." - Speaking

_Italics_ - Thoughts

**_Bold italics_ **- Mikhail/Raphael talking in Teito/Ouka's minds

**Bold** - Mikhail/Raphael talking when they take over their masters' bodies.

* * *

Summary: Pandora's box is breaking apart, Mikhail is damaged and Verloren's soul is coming closer as each second passes by. Fearing for their Masters' future, Raphael, with the help of Mikhail help send Kal (Ea), Teito, Ouka, Wolfram and Millea back two months when Teito Klein first deserted the military. How will Teito cope with reliving the past again? Will he help change things for the better or the worse?

* * *

Yes, I know Ayanami was 30 meters away from the door during this time in the manga, but I needed the time period to fit all the other stuff that's going to happen!

* * *

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THIS READ KAPITEL 86-89 OF THE MANGA.

* * *

"Kal... please change everyone's soul number here besides mine. From now on, I'll meet up with Frau and the others and get out of this fortress," Teito said as he let go of his mother's hand and rose to his feet.

"...So you plan to be as bait," Kal concluded.

"Rather than not knowing when he'll appear, it's much easier to move knowing he'll only appear before me." Teito confirmed. _That guy will definitely appear in front of me once more..._

"Teito, your wings still haven't recovered." Ouka pointed out. "Are you okay?"

"Eh? They're still out?" Teito turned to see that his wings were indeed still damaged and had not yet returned to his body. "The restoration hasn't finished yet?" _Come to think of it, there's no feeling..._

_"Blink."_ The eye of Raphael lit up once and Ouka shouted out "Ayanami's closing in!"

Teito and Kal sharply turned to face Ouka. "What is his exact position?!" Teito demanded.

"On the other side of the door 100 meters ahead!" Without turning, she told teito, "Teito, this mission, I... I'll fulfill the mission of resealing Verloren's Soul!"

"OUKA! Ayanami, I will..." Teito began as he ran to stand besides his friend. However, he stopped midway when he realized Mikhail wasn't responding. _Come to think of it, even though Ouka realized Ayanami's approach, I didn't sense it at all..._

**_"Master...!"_**Mikhail cried out to Teito.**_ "The restoration of the fracture won't start. Because of the damage caused by Raphael, errors are occurring on all circuits."_**

Teito's eyes' widened in shock as he "It can't be...Mikhail... is Broken...?"

"Teito! Leave this place to me." Ouka shouted as she took on a defensive stance. "Hurry and go!"

"No! We can't leave you behind!"

"**_Mistress,_**" Raphael called out to Ouka, "**_Please allow me to take over for a few minutes. It just might be the difference between winning and loosing._**"

"As you wish Raphael. I'll trust your judgment." Ouka closed her eyes and then opened them to reveal blue irises.

"**Humans, listen carefully to what I am about to say, as it may be the only chance we have now that Mikhail has been damaged.**"

"What do you have in store, Raphael?" Kal asked.

"**As you all know, I, the Angel Raphael, and the Archangel Michael were chosen by the chief of heaven himself to guard Verloren's body and soul. Therefore, we have been given numerous powers by the Chief, time travel being one of them.**"

"But if that's so," Teito said, as realization dawned on him, "then you can send us back in time, right?! To prevent this mess from coming around in the first place?!"

"**That is correct. However,**" Raphael continued, "**there are many restrictions on using this power.**"

"Restrictions?" Kal asked.

"**Yes. For one, this power can only be used once and it requires both the willing consent of the eyes and the vessels in which the eyes reside in. Before now, Mikhail and myself had never needed to use this gift as Verloren's seal was never at harm's risk. However, due to the brainwashing I had been subjected to for the past decade and the brainwashing Mikhail has been under for the past few days, the seal on both Verloren's body and soul have weakened tremendously. In fact, there is only one seal left in place on Pandora's box, and now with Mikhail damaged, that seal too is rapidly falling to pieces. Now is the time to use this power given to us by the Chief.**"

"Raphael, are there any other restrictions on using time travel?" Teito questioned.

"**Yes. Since by using this gift we will be playing with the sands of time, only a select number of people can accompany the vessels of the eyes of Raphael and Mikhail. Not only this, to prevent a time paradox, only your souls and your memories can go back in time, thus meaning that you will wake up in the bodies you had during the time we end up in. The time we can actually go back is also limited, to only 6 months. Also... those humans who have already died in the time period we are going to jump back to will remain dead to prevent those who return to the past from accidentally or incidentally saving those** **lives**."

"Is that all the restrictions?" Teito asked, sadly. _So even if I go back in time I can't save you Mikage..._"...What about the reincarnations of those souls who have died?What about the cursed tickets? Will I have to visit the god houses again? And the Wars and the Kor? Will they also not exist when we go back?"

"**There is not enough time left to answer your questions. When we go back, you may ask Mikhail-sama.**"

"Alright then." Teito sighed before turning towards the emperor, Kal and his mother. "What about you, Kal, mom, your majesty? Do you want to come to the past along with us?"

"OF COURSE I WILL!" Emperor Wolfram declared. "I've already wasted so much time neglecting my daughter! And I won't go back to doing so if I can help it!"

"I better as well, seeing how troublesome things are going to get," Kal replied.

"I...will...trust your...judgment...Tiashe..." Millea said, smiling weakly.

"Can you and Mikhail send every person who is currently in this room back to two months ago, around the time I deserted the military the first time (1)?"

"Of course."

"Alright then, what do we have to do, Raphael?"

"All you need to do is hold my hand. I'll try to connect myself to Mikhail's deep psych. You and Ouka-sama are willing to go through with it? Then it should only take a few seconds..."

*Bang! Bang! Bang*

Teito could just see Ayanami appear at the door. But before he could step into the room, a blinding light appeared around the five inhabitants and swept them away though the ghosts of time.

* * *

(1) Technically, Teito deserted the military twice. The first when he tried to kill Ayanami back at the military academy, the second when he regained his memories after his battle with Frau.


	2. Book One: Kapitel 1: Teito

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN 07-GHOST IN ANY SUCH MANNER OR WAY

* * *

"..." - Speaking

_Italics_ - Thoughts

**_Bold italics_ **- Mikhail/Raphael talking in Teito/Ouka's minds

**Bold** - Mikhail/Raphael talking when they take over their masters' bodies.

* * *

Summary: Pandora's box is breaking apart, Mikhail is damaged and Verloren's soul is coming closer as each second passes by. Fearing for their Masters' future, Raphael, with the help of Mikhail, help send Kal (Ea), Teito, Ouka, Wolfram and Millea back two months around when Teito Klein first deserted the military. How will Teito cope with reliving the past again? Will he help change things for the better or for the worse?

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity of floating, Teito finally woke up to talking.

"You really are a trouble-maker, aren't you," a familiar voice said. _C-Castor-san?!_ Teito thought as he tried to open his eyes.

"That brat underestimated me," someone else responded. _Frau! He's alright! AND I'M NOT A BRAT!_

"Gnn..." Teito rubbed his eyes, his head throbbing. Teito looked around to see that they were in a deserted corridor in the church- _Wait, what? Wasn't I at Houborg Fortress with Ouka, the emperor, mom and Kal? Does that mean the time travel worked?_ "My head feels like its going to implode (1)..."

*Screech* Frau abruptly backed away from Teito, afraid that Mikhail might still be in control of Teito's body (though he would later deny that if anyone had asked him). Mikage, Teito's pink, fluffy baby fyulong dragon, fell from Frau's head in the process. "You're Teito, right...?" Frau asked nervously.

"Ugh, of course I am" Teito said as he got up. Mikage quickly ran over to his friend and jumped on his shoulder. "Pya~" Mikage said cheerfully. "Mikage..." Teito smiled.

"Teito!" Bishop Castor said, suddenly appearing in front of Teito. "Will you attempt the clergy examinations?"

"The... clergy examinations?" Teito repeated, as he realized where exactly in time he was in. _So this was the day of Mikage's funeral, wasn't it? I remember passing out for some reason and waking up to Castor-san asking me to take the Bishop exams... I suppose it's better this way... at least I won't be forced to watch Mikage die a second time. I wonder how the others are doing, especially mom. I hope she's doing okay. I swear, I don't care if Wolfram is the emperor of the Barsburg Empire or Ouka's father, if he keeps mom under the influence of that poison any longer, I'm going to murder him._

"... get a full pass to all lodging establishments and transportation facilities around the world!...Teito-kun? Are you listening to me?" Castor asked. "You look a bit pale there. Am I going to fast?"

Teito jumped, startled out of his thoughts. "Err, yeah, I'm listening, but I think I'll go sit in the courtyard and think about... what you just said..." Teito replied, distracted.

"Alright. Please give me your response by the end of the day, at the most." Castor-san said, doubting that the brunette actually was paying attention.

* * *

*After Teito Leaves*

"You idiot! Why are you encouraging him to take revenge?! What he needs now is time to get his mind off Mikage's death and the imperial military! He needs to relax and heal his heart! What were you thinking?!" Frau shouted, seriously thinking about strangling his doll-loving companion.

"Burupya!" Mikage said. (A/N: Teito head was hurting too much so he forgot to take Mikage with him)

"Now, now, Frau, even you know that it would be practically impossible to stop Teito from going off to get his revenge," Castor replied. "That is inevitable, especially if the military know that he possesses the Eye of Mikhail. The military will stop at nothing in retrieving the boy. It's either Teito goes to the military or the military comes to him. That's why, I'm choosing the practical way to topple this dilemma. If the military and Teito-kun are going to clash no matter what we do..." Castor continued smiling, "then why not prepare Teito so he could at most have more of a chance of getting away from them alive with all of his body parts in one piece?" (2)

Frau sweat dropped. "It's amazing, the amount of confidence you have in the brat..."

"Oh, I have confidence in Teito-kun, alright. To have gone through what he has... to have killed so many people... and yet for his soul to remain so pure and his mind so naïve..." Castor sighed. "He's one of the most toughest people I have ever met."

"Yeah," Frau agreed. "I agree on the tough part, but he's still a brat."

* * *

When Teito reached the water fountain he sat down on the edge. He dropped his head into his hands. _Urg, my mind feels like it's a complete mess. __How is Ouka? Is she still undergoing the brainwashing maintenance? I wonder how the scientist are dealing now that Doctor Nanase is dead. __How is Emperor Wolfram? I can't forgive him for what he has taken away from me for his selfish desires, but right now he is still under Landkarte's influence. If Wolfram suddenly stops listening to Landkarte, won't it seem suspicious? What will happen to __mom? And general Oak! He was also killed. I wonder how Shuri's dealing with the sudden loss of his father. Even though I don't like Shuri as a whole, he did love his father with all his heart and he did invite me to the funeral so then I could meet Mikage's family. __How is Kal? He's still working under Miroku, right? __How am I going to contact them? I'm quite sure the imperial guard won't let me waltz into Houborg fort when ever I feel like- _"Ahh!" Teito screamed his head throbbing even more painfully than before. He fell of the fountain and crashed onto the ground.

"Teito!" One of the nuns, Rosalie, (3) called out, as she rushed to where Teito had fallen. "Are you alright? My, you look like you're going to faint at any time, you're so pale. Here, I'll help you to your room. I'll have some of the other nuns bring your lunch up to your room later on as well."

"Th-thank you, very much," Teito said, relieved. _I was so worried about the others that I didn't even realize that I don't remember where my room was, anymore._

After the nun had showed Teito to his room, Teito collapsed onto the bed. His headache was getting worse.

_The cursed tickets! Do I still have them, or do I need to start all over again? Should I still take the Bishop examination? I mean, I already know how to use a bascule... I doubt Castor-san, Labrador-san and Frau are going to just let me go. They'll probably think I'm marching off to my death or something..._

_Is Bishop Lance dead?_

_And... ASSISTANT ARCHBISHOP BASTIAN! HE WAS GOING TO DIE A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE BISHOPS' EXAM, RIGHT?! DOESN'T THAT MEAN HE'S DEAD?! WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THEY FIND THE BODY?! How is Frau going to deal with this?!_

_What about Hakuren? If I don't take the Bishop exams we probably won't become as close as friends as we were the last time._

"_**Master, please do not think so much! This body has not completely absorbed all of your soul and memories yet!**_" Mikhail shouted, its voice vibrating in Teito's head.

"Mikhail!" Teito gasped, remembering that Ayanami still hadn't yet managed to separate Teito from the eye.

_AND I'M STILL PANDORA's BOX! __IS THE SEAL STILL BROKEN!?_

_WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT ABOUT THE EYE OF MIKHAIL!? WILL I BE SEPARATED FROM IT AGAIN?!_

*Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!* Mikhail temporarily took over its master's body before standing up to bang Teito's head against the wall. "**Master-I-said-to-stop-THINKING,**" Mikhail screamed.

When it gave control back to Teito, Teito promptly fell backwards onto the bad again. (4)

"Uh, did you HAVE to do that, Mikhail? And why does my head hurt so much?" Teito asked.

"_**Yes, I did. As much as it hurts me to damage my most favorite vessel, you just WOULDN'T stop thinking. And your consistent thoughts and worries was making it more harder than it already was for your body to accept foreign data. **__Master, I believe that your body is having difficulties due to the fact that since you were at this t_ime highly emotionally stressed out and injured due to the recent loss of Mikage, the extra strain that you are putting on this body with the input of your future memories, not to mention the combing of your past's soul with your future soul, is putting your body under extreme pressure. I'll be able to sort out this mess inside of you but it might take some time."

"How long do you need?" Teito asked.

"**_About 3 to 4 hours should suffice, but I could do it in two if you were sleeping..._**"

"Okay, then. I feel like taking a nap anyways. ESPECIALLY after you banged my head against the wall SIX TIMES."

"**_YOU WOULDN'T STOP THINKING!_**"

* * *

(1) An imploding head hurts more than an exploding head :/

(2) Note: Castor-san said AT MOST, not at least.

(3)The nun's name was Rosalie, who was doing Laundry by the fountain and who knew Teito.

(4) Teito's now a bit dizzy after having his head smashed onto the wall.

* * *

Sorry if Mikhail seems a bit OOC in this chapter. Its because of the migraine.

All the answers to Teito's questions will be answered in the next few chapters. The next Chapter will be dedicated to Raphael, Ouka and Wolfram! Raphael will probably also be a bit grumpy. :D


	3. Book One: Kapitel 2: Houborg Fortress

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN 07-GHOST IN ANY SUCH MANNER OR WAY

* * *

"..." - Speaking

_Italics_ - Thoughts

**_Bold italics_ **- Mikhail/Raphael talking in Teito/Ouka's minds

**Bold** - Mikhail/Raphael talking when they take over their masters' bodies.

* * *

Summary: Pandora's box is breaking apart, Mikhail is damaged and Verloren's soul is coming closer as each second passes by. Fearing for their Masters' future, Raphael, with the help of Mikhail, help send Kal (Ea), Teito, Ouka, Wolfram and Millea back two months around when Teito Klein first deserted the military. How will Teito cope with reliving the past again? Will he help change things for the better or for the worse?

* * *

*Blink blink* Ouka woke up to find herself in her room. Her arms were folded and acted like a pillow for her head. She was sitting at her dresser, _apparently still doing my hair_, she thought. _Raphael, why didn't you tell me that time travel could be so random_?

"_**I didn't have time to tell you every single thing, okay?**_" Raphael snapped.

"Are you alright, Raphael?" Ouka asked. "You seem quite grumpy."

"**_You would be too if you had to make sure that five people of varying ages got back to this EXACT time into your CORRECT bodies while making sure your souls didn't get LOST and that your respective memories was attached to your souls and did not fly away to god knows where_**," Raphael grumbled.

"I'm sorry."

"_**Don't be. It's not your fault**_."'

*Tick tock* *Tick tock*

"What am I doing here again?"

"_**Doing your hair I believe**_."

"But I already did it. This bores me. Let us go find Kururu. Then we can go searching for Teito!"

"_**As you wish, Master**_."

Ouka got up and opened the door to the balcony to see Kururu sun bathing.

"Kururu!" Ouka said as she ran and hugged her beloved Fyulong dragon. "How many times must I tell you not to sun bathe in the cold? It's nearly winter!"

"Princess Ouka, your hair is a mess!" Kururu responded, trying to evade responding. "Did I not tell you to fix it before?"

"Don't change the subject Kururu. My hair is fine and you know I'm just trying to protect you," Ouka said, chiding her companion gently. "What would happen if you caught a cold? Now, come along, there are some important matters that I must go and address."

* * *

"Gyokuran-san!" Ouka called out to her lady-in-waiting as she ran down the hallway of the court.

"Ouka-sama, good afternoon," Gyokuran replied as she pushed the cart laden with Ouka's favorite afternoon snacks. Behind her, kikune and Ohruri followed. "What is it? We were just about to bring your lunch to your room. And why are you in such a hurry?"

"I am not in a hurry Gyokuran-san. Anyways, do you know of a boy named Teito Klein? I think he used to go to military school..."

"Teito...Klein?" Gyokuran said slowly, sharing a look with her two other companions.

"Milady, isn't he that boy who tried to assassinate the chief of staff, Ayanami and was later marked as a deserter when he fled the prison cell and killed most of the guards?"

_Assassinate...Ayanami...Deserter...Killed...Oh no, Teito's in more trouble than I thought_! Ouka thought frantically before running off again with Kururu on her shoulder._ I need to find father! We need to stop the military from capturing Teito!_

"Princess Ouka! Where are you going?! You must eat your lunch! And you have to go through the maintenance afterwards!"

"Who cares about the maintenance? I would rather die than go near that brainwashing machine ever again!"

"Ouka, what has caused you such unease? And why do you ask about a ruffian like that? A deserter of the military holds no right to even talk to someone as prestigious as you," Kururu said.

"Kururu, it doesn't matter about one's social status. I am simply a human, as is Teito-kun, only Teito-kun's life is in danger!"

"Father!" Ouka called out when she reached the throne room, only to find her father no where to be seen. "You, there! Ichiki (1)! Do you know where my father is?"

Ichiki bowed. "Yes, your highness. Your father has gone to visit 'that' person. In fact, before he left, he told me to take you to him if you came to ask for him. Please follow me."

* * *

When Emperor Wolfram awoke from the coma-like state he immediately told his most trusted servant Ichiki to take Ouka to him if she were to call for him before hurrying over to the room where Millea laid asleep. As he hurried down the halls and stairs, he hardly paid any attention to his surroundings, his thoughts only on whether Millea was alright. I hope that the time travel did not effect her condition negatively.

He didn't know what to do. He wanted to wake Millea up but wouldn't the first thing Millea want to see be Teito Klein? And Teito would most likely be angry if Millea was still asleep by the time he came.

"Emperor Wolfram, why did you hurry to Millea's side? The woman is fine. Weren't we in the middle of planning your daughter's assassination?" came a voice from behind Wolfram. Wolfram turned around to come face-to-face with the "shadow man," that damned smile on his face as always. _Landkarte, that's what that other man said his name was_.

"Me? Plan my own daughter's death? I think not! I would rather die right now than hurt a single hair on my daughter's head, barbarian!" Wolfram shouted in anger, positioning himself into a defensive stance he had once seen Ouka in. (2)

If Landkarte had eyes he would have blinked in disbelief. "Emperor, was it not you who told me you wanted to see the princess' head on a silver platter?"

"In your dreams! If I did say such a thing, it would be because you brainwashed me! You caused me to lose sight of what's truly important! Ouka is my precious daughter who will always love me, even if I had stabbed her with a knife ten times! She is my own flesh and blood, as is Millea! (3) I was a fool in trusting you ten years ago! Now, not only have you caused me to neglect my daughter, but you also had me take away Millea's own happiness and that of her son!" Wolfram shouted in frustration, anger and sadness. "I have hurt so many people because of my selfishness, people who would with no doubt help me in my time of need without a single hesitation. I don't deserve any happiness. I don't even know what it is."

"Hmnph! I don't know what caused the sudden change of heart but if that is what you've got to say then there really isn't much point in keeping you alive," Landkarte huffed, bringing form his scythe. Landkarte slashed the emperor's legs, causing Wolfram to collapse on the floor in pain.

"Give up, Wolfram, you are in no shape to challenge me," Landkarte told the injured emperor. "You are pathetic and weak. You only could get as far as you had through my help. If you stop sprouting such nonsense, I'll spare you, but if you continue to act as a fool I will give Millea the antidote to the poison just so that you could hear her screams as she dies painfully."

*BOOM*

"**DON'T YOU DARE HARM THOSE PEOPLE PRECIOUS TO MY MASTER**!" Raphael screamed as it blasted Landkarte across the room.

*Screech* "Ouka, what in the world?!" Kururu exclaimed, shocked to see her cherished sister's eyes turn from a frantic pink color to a cold sky blue one.

"O-Ouka!" Wolfram cried in relief.

"**I admire your words and courage, human. You have proven to me that you really are deserving to being my Master's father, though I do not deny on having my doubts**," Raphael said, her eyes never leaving Landkarte.

"Keh, Keh... how are you able to awaken, Raphael? The Raphael Project should have suppressed your powers to nothing!" Landkarte said, as he got to his feet.

"**You are a fool, Landkarte, thinking that human machines could suppress the power of a god. And do not look too shocked at me knowing your true identity. That scythe in your hands gave you away** (4)."

"Emperor!" Ichiki said, as he ran to Wolfram. Though he was surprised to see Raphael, he knew it was not in his place to question it, especially if it was an ally of the emperor. "You are injured! Please allow me to heal you!" Ichiki began to use his healing Zaiphon on Wolfram as he was not only Wolfram's most trusted servant, but also Wolfram's doctor, who made sure that the Emperor remained healthy (5).

"Hmnph, seems like I have no choice but to retreat, if your powers truly are reawakened, but don't think that I'll leave you alone, especially not when you know who I am. You can't always protect your father and that woman. The minute you're not looking, I'll come to strike them down."

With that Landkarte vanished.

Ouka's eyes then changed from the sparkling blue they once were to the normal pink color. "Father!" Ouka ran over to join Ichiki to help heal Wolfram's wounds. "I'm glad you're still alive. Ichiki, thank you for healing most of father's wounds. I can do the rest. Can you go and check on Millea-san to make sure she's okay?"

"As you wish, your highness."

* * *

"...So Ouka-sama has the eye of Raphael and that woman over there is the former queen of Raggs and that deserter, Teito Klein, is actually the prince of the fallen Raggs Empire?" Ichiki asked.

For the past half hour Ouka and Wolfram had been filling Ichiki and Kururu in on the details of what was going on. They didn't inform them of the time travel part, but they did they him about the seven ghosts, Ayanami and Landkarte and how Landkarte convinced Wolfram to start a war with Raggs. They told them about the Raphael project and the 46 clones that were made from Ouka's DNA fingerprints. Kururu still seemed shocked that her sister who she had been with ever since Kururu was born was actually a "fake" as Ouka called herself, but Kururu did not see Ouka any different than she had before. "Ouka-chan is Ouka-chan and that's that," Kururu had said.

"Yes," Ouka confirmed before turning to face her father. "But, father, what about Teito? I have recently found out that he is being pursued by the military. Can you somehow forbid the military from capturing Teito?"

"Yes, I can, but first we have to find someplace safe to keep Millea, in case Landkarte comes back, again."

"Your majesty, may I suggest you use the royal safe house below the city?" Ichiki said.

"That's a wonderful idea, Ichiki! But, before we go, we should have Kal-san come with us too, so he can change our soul numbers! And my ladies in waiting, Gyokuran, Kikune and Ohruri could stay with Millea-san so Millea will have someone to help her!"

"Alright, then! Ichiki, escort Ouka's servants here. Also have a royal invitation sent immediately to Chairman Miroku Barsburg Begleiter, Kal, and tell Kal that he has chosen to be my body guard from now to the day after Princess Roseamanelle Ouka Barsburg's coronation, as well."

"There is no need to send an invitation, though I would appreciate it if you could send a notice to Miroku-sama," Kal said as he emerged out of no where.

"Ah! Kal-sama! When did you get here?" Ouka asked, startled.

"Just now. Apparently the military's going crazy trying to deal with all the unexplained deaths going on...

* * *

*One hour ago, in the military meeting room.*

"Have you forgotten our objective officer? The battle with Antwort in the north is extremely difficult. At this rate won't our forces be cut off?" Nabiki asked.

"It seems Staff Officer Ayanami disapproves of our plan," Shiroki observed with a smirk.

"My apologies," was Ayanami's emotionless response.

"In that case, why doesn't the empire's finest strategist Ayanami-kun see to it personally? Antwort is a snow country," Ogi said nonchalantly.

"Two thousand soldiers would get in Ayanami-kun's way, so is half enough?" Nabiki asked.

"I will undertake the task," Ayanami declared. "500 soldiers will be sufficient."

"Hooh, you'll do it with only 500 soldiers?" The three men looked a bit nevous.

"As you say."

"Alright, then," General Oak said. "I suppose that brings us to a-" Just then Kal's memories from the future had finally reached his body. At that same moment, General Oak, Nabiki, Shiroki and Ogi slumped in their chairs, dead. Major Hyuuga, also, fell to the floor, dead.

"M-Major?!" Konatsu said, panic written all over his face as he hurried to see if Hyuuga was alright, only to find a cold corpse.

"Konatsu," Ayanami said, getting up from his chair to stand besides his other fellow Warsfeil, "how is Hyuuga? Is he alright?"

"T-the M-Major I-is d-dead," Konatsu said, disbelief and shock clear in his voice. Ayanami's eyes also widened in shock, while his other subordinates gasped in shock.

"S-sir! General Oak, Nabiki-sama, Ogi-sama and Shiroki-sama are also dead! What is going on?" One of the soldiers called out.

_Good question. Too bad you won't be able to find the answer to that_, Kal thought. _I need to go find the emperor and the princess. Teito is most likely still in the church so I won't have to worry about him. Now, with the situation with Landkarte..._

*Bang* "Sirs, two hundred soldiers have died suddenly due to an unknown cause!" A soldier called out, as he banged open the door. "Everyone is in a state of panic, and the soldiers aren't the only ones dying. Numerous citizens have been found to have died across the continent!"

"Ayanami-sama, what should we do?" Katsuragi, _no Landkarte_, Kal thought angrily.

"...Take away all the soldiers who have died and bring to the infirmary. Identify each and everyone of them and send a letter to their families, if they have any. Those soldiers who do not have families or have families who want nothing to do with them will be given a major funeral in the first District's largest graveyard," Ayanami informed the soldiers. "The rest of you, get these five to the infirmary and have the doctors perform autopsy to determine the cause of these death. Also see if these soldiers had anything in common to cause this disease."

_Hah, Verloren sure knows how to keep calm in desperate situations. If I haven't known better I would have thought he didn't care at all. But I can see right through you, Ayanami. You're scared and confused. You don't know what in the world is going. To top that off, you probably didn't even feel Hyuuga's soul leave his body, now didn't you?_

* * *

*Back in Millea's room*

(A/N: Ichiki already left to deliver the letter to Miroku telling him that the emperor is borrowing his Begleiter.)

"After the meeting ended, I accompanied Miroku-sama and the Black Hawks to Miroku's mansion. Then, when Miroku and Ayanami went up to Miroku's office to talk about what had happened, I managed to slip away and come to Houborg Fortress. By the way, Doctor Nanase is also dead."

"**And good riddance too, though I am sad for not having been able to rip him limb from limb for all the harm he has done to my master**," Raphael muttered, taking over Ouka for a moment. While Kal had been informing them about what was happening in the military, Ouka had been administering the antidote to Millea, but she didn't seemed to be waking. "**_Do not worry, master. Millea-san is fine. Her body is just absorbing her soul and memories at a slower pace due to the long period of inactivity_**."

Kal sweat dropped. "Please refrain from doing so. The last thing we need is a mutilated body of an old man."

"Emperor, the letter has been sent and I have brought the three ladies as you have requested," Ichiki said, bowing before allowing Gyokuran, Kikune and Ohruri to go into the room.

"Princess!" Gyokuran said. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Gyokuran, I am fine, however, I have a request for you. You see this lady here? This is Teito Klein's mother, Millea Klein. She has been through a lot and is in a lot of pain right know. Please, will you treat her like you would treat me? I know that this seems strange for me to ask you that, but this person is really precious to Teito-kun," Ouka begged

"Princess, may I ask why Teito Klein's mother is here in the first place?" Kikune asked, her face her normal expressionless mask.

"Ah! So, you see, that is a very long story which will probably take a very long time to understand, so I'll have Ichiki fill you in when we go to the Royal safe house!" Ouka said brightly.

"Your majesty, since I thought you were all going to the Royal safe house, I made sure to prepare things around here before I came back so you neither you nor the Princess will be needed for a few days. I also spread the word that Teito Klein is to no longer be pursued by the military."

"Thank you Ichiki," Wolfram said.

"Alright then, everyone come around the bed. We'll use the emergency elevator, since its the fastest way to the Royal safe-house," Kal informed the others. (6)

* * *

*While in the elevator*

_Raphael, I have a question,_ Ouka thought.

"**_What is it, Master?_**"

_Is time travel possible by human means?_

"_**...No. You see, the fabric of time itself is so thin and flimsy that an ant can pass through time and not know any better. Since messing around with time, whether accidentally or incidentally, can be very dangerous to both the human race and the fate of the world, the Chief of heaven placed numerous locks and walls around this thin fabric as to make it impossible for humans to travel in time. It is because of these locks that humans can progress forward without turning back. If these locks weren't in place, what do you think might happen?**_"

_...! Oh, since humans don't know which time they are in or which time they belong, humans wouldn't progress. They could go back and forward through time without knowing it_.

"**_Yes. If people came to the past, the people from the past would try to use the knowledge from the future to improve their own societies. If people came to the future, they would take that knowledge back to the past._ They'll make sure that everything was the same in the past, present and future, so that way we couldn't tell the difference between the three. The earth would turn into one big, dull dream/nightmare**."

"Tiashe..." Mille's voice called out, breaking Ouka's thoughts. "Where...Tiashe...Is he...safe...?"

"Millea-san, please don't worry so much. Tiashe is perfectly fine. Right now he's at the Barsburg Church so the military can't reach him. Soon we'll go and find Tiashe, as well."

"Thank god..." Millea breathed before falling asleep.

* * *

(1) A servant who works directly for the emperor.

(2) When Ouka was about to face off Ayanami she took on a defensive stance

(3) Millea was a part of the Barsburg family, but was not recognized because of the circumstances of her birth.

(4) I noticed that all of the Scythes used by the seven ghosts had their symbol at the end.

(5) Like with Ouka, there are many people in the imperial family who want to get rid of Wolfram, so Ichiki makes sure the King's food isn't poisoned.

(6) Kal has learned a lot about the royal family and its secrets during his ten year infiltration of the Barsburg military

* * *

A/N: Just so you know, I hate Miroku, and so does Teito. He feels resentment towards Miroku for forcing him to become a battle slave and to kill all those people. Teito will NEVER see Miroku as a fatherly figure, even if Miroku adopts him once again in the story.

* * *

Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be on the reunion of the five time travelers! A more thorough description on what the royal safe houses are will also be provided by the next chapter.


	4. Book One: Kapitel 3: The Barsburg Church

I know I said that I said this chapter would be about the reunion. It's just that there was a lot going on between the time Teito first woke up in the past and when the five time travelers are reunited. I decided to just have the reunion take place in the next chapter.

* * *

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN 07-GHOST IN ANY SUCH MANNER OR WAY

* * *

"..." - Speaking

_Italics_ - Thoughts

_**Bold italics **_- Mikhail/Raphael talking in Teito/Ouka's minds

**Bold** - Mikhail/Raphael talking when they take over their masters' bodies.

* * *

Summary: Pandora's box is breaking apart, Mikhail is damaged and Verloren's soul is coming closer as each second passes by. Fearing for their Masters' future, Raphael, with the help of Mikhail, help send Kal (Ea), Teito, Ouka, Wolfram and Millea back two months around when Teito Klein first deserted the military. How will Teito cope with reliving the past again? Will he help change things for the better or for the worse?

* * *

At a back alley in a small city in the 6th district a man suddenly fell down, dead. The fortune teller that sat alone in the alley merely watched the man's body before thinking out loud, "Oh my, oh my, I wondered how that happened?"

* * *

*In front of the door of Teito's guest room*

It was around evening at the Barsburg Church and Teito still hadn't come out of his room.

"Castor, I'm worried about Teito. The nuns told me that Teito-kun hadn't eaten lunch and that he locked himself in his room," Labrador said.

"I know," Castor replied, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I hope this isn't a relapse of his previous depression."

"Alright you people, out of the way! I'M COMING THROUGH YOU DAMN DRAT!" Frau said, breaking the door with his foot, once again. Mikage was still biting Frau's hair in protective anger (Mikage's thoughts: _Don't insult my best buddy_!) "Geez, didn't we go over this two days ago?! What's going on with-eh?"

Frau stopped short when he saw that Teito was neither crying nor depressed, but instead sleeping fitfully with a peaceful expression on his face.

"Pya!" Mikage said before he jumped off Frau's head and onto Teito's bed. Once Mikage felt comfortable enough, he fell asleep immediately.

"Oh, look," Castor said, "Teito left a note on the side-table."

_~To Frau, Castor and Labrador,_

_I'm taking a nap. Don't wake me up, I'm not hungry. I have also decided to take the Clergy Exam._

_Teito~_

"Why did the damn Brat leave a message inside his room? Couldn't he have, I don't know, tell a nun to tell us that or something?" Frau asked.

"Teito-kun probably knew you were going to break down his door anyways, so he decided not to bother," Labrador said smiling cheerfully. "I mean, your actions ARE predictable, Frau."

"Well then, now that that's over, why don't you just leave Teito's dinner on the side table besides the letter. That way, if Teito wakes up, he'll have something to eat," Castor said.

After they walked out of the room to allow the guardians to fix the door AGAIN (guardians' thoughts: _We really should be paid more_...) a group of nuns came running towards the Bishops.

"Bishop Frau, Bishop Castor and Bishop Labrador! Assistant Archbisop Bastian and nearly all the prisoners have died!"

"WHAT?!" Frau said, shocked.

"When Archbishop Jio sent someone to check on Bastian-sama because he didn't arrive during mass. However, when he got there, Bastian-sama was already dead! And no one knows how!" One of the nuns said, frantic.

"Archbishop Jio sent us so he could talk to you three in private about the occurences as well." Another nun added.

"Thank you for telling us. We shall leave immediately" Castor told them.

* * *

*In the West Garden*

"Archbishop Jio, you called for us?"

"The Pope is dead," Jio said, getting right to the point. "What more, at the same the criminals who have repented and Bastian."

"Why is this happening? Why did they all die? Why did it have to be Bastian-sama of all people?!" demanded angrily.

"That we do not know. However autopsy on Bastien's body has shown evidence that he was a warsphile. A heavily tainted book on black magic has also been found on his desk in his study."

"No, it can't be. Bastien-sama couldn't be a Warsphile! He would never do something as stupid as that," Frau replied in shock.

"95% of the Antwort population passed away at the exact same time as well. I have called you here to see if you have any knowledge as to the cause of the deaths of these people. You three _are_ part of the Seven Ghosts, after all."

"…Archbishop Jio, there is something we would like to say. Earlier this day the eye of Mikhail attacked both me and Frau, though Frau was the one who provoked it," Castor said. "The might have been involved in these occurrences."

Frau was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to comment.

"The eye of Mikhail?! How did you come about it?" Jio demanded.

"The boy of whom we have told you of, Teito Klein, is not only the prince of the fallen Raggs Kingdom but also the holder of the eye of Mikhail," Labrador informed. "That child shall face many challenges in the future, especially now that the Eye has begun to awaken."

"Hmmm… this could prove to me more difficult than I thought… Alright, I need you three to keep an eye On this child. The Eye of Mikhail might very well be involved with the deaths of all those people, or it could have just been coincidental. I must also meet with this child in the near future. This might also be connected to what we found in the Pope's room..."

"What do you mean, Jio-sama? Labrador inquired curiously.

"When the Pope's body was found, a letter has also been found in his possession. Apparently, the army had sent a message to the pope, asking for their ships to be allowed to fly over the seventh district as a short cut to Antwort," Jio explained.

"Why would the military want battleships to go to Antwort? Are they thinking of making war with them?" Frau asked.

"I'm afraid so. The reason that they gave to the pope was that they suspect the Eye of Mikhail to be hidden in Antwort and intend to obtain it. They had also requested that the church hand over Teito Klein to the military for questioning, as they believe that Teito had some sort of information on the eye. The pope appeared to be in the middle of writing the letter. Here, look at this." Jio handed over a white sheet of paper with the Pope's handwriting on it.

_General Wakaba Oak,_

_I have considered your proposal. However, I am afraid that I cannot let your battle ships fly over the seventh district. If you desire a short cut to battle, I advise taking the route through the mountain range parallel to the seventh district. It should you about the same amount of time as it would if you had passed through the seventh district. I also can not allow the Law of Sanctuary to be broken, even if the person you are seeking murdered the emperor himself. However, I have also been wanting to talk to the boy for a time. I shall ask him about the Eye and if he knows something about it. If he knows anything of significance, then I shall relay the information to you and the emperor._

_...Also, if there is truly a person who can wield the Eye of Mikhail, I shall like to meet with this person... to ascertain that he is indeed worthy of wielding the eye of Mikhail and becoming the next King of Raggs-_

"Jio-sama, do you mean to say that the pope had planned to revive the Kingdom of Raggs?" Castor asked, even more shocked and confused than before.

"It is unfortunate that we can no longer ask the pope directly for his reasons," Labrador sighed.

"Anyways, all you want us to do is babysit the brat, right? Then don't worry, we'll watch him so closely, he wouldn't be able get out of his room, much less the church.

* * *

*30 minutes after Frau, Castor and Labrador left Teito's room*

Teito finally woke up after hours of helping Mikhail sort out his memories. Teito never knew just how unorganized his mind was until he fell head-first into a mountain of things that looked like paper-work and random objects. However, Teito was glad that his mind was now all sorted out.

"Wow, my head doesn't hurt anymore!" Teito said as he jumped off the bed. "It's as if a great burden's been lifted off my shoulders."

"_**I am glad my wonderful master feels better**_!" Mikhail said happily.

"Hmm? Seems like someone left some food for me. I'm not that hungry, though..."

_**"Master, you should eat the last thing we need right now is for you to collapse**_," Mikhail responded.

"Alright, then."

"Pya? Burupya!" Mikage said, shaking his head to clear it before jumping onto Teito's shoulder. (Mikage's thoughts: _Buddy's awake! FOOD!_)

"Mikage?" Teito asked, before grabbing Mikage and hugging it. "I MISSED YOU!" (1)

After Teito ate, he went out of his room to search for Frau, Castor and Labrador.

"_**Master, I sense Zehel, Fest and Profe's energy waves coming from the west garden**_," Mikhail informed.

_Thanks Mikhail_.

Castor-san? Labrador-san? Frau? Are you guys here?" Teito called out.

"Ah, Teito-kun." Castor came from behind the tree, followed by Labrador and Frau. "We were just talking about you. I take it you had a good nap?"

"Yes, I feel much better now. Did Frau really break down the door again?" Teito asked.

"Unfortunately."

"Oi, don't talk as if I'm not here!" Frau shouted angrily, though the outburst seemed a bit half-hearted.

_I wonder if he heard about Bastian-sama_, Teito thought sadly.

"Anyways, here's your badge, damn brat," Frau said, coming to Teito and attaching the badge to the collar of Teito's mourning robes. "This badge proves that you are a candidate for the Bishop exam."

"Come meet us at the Library tomorrow morning Teito-kun," Castor said

"Alright, good night, Frau, Castor-san, Labrador." _I wonder why Labrador looks confused_, Teito thought.

* * *

"Is everything alright, Labrador? You seem awfully quiet," Castor

"That boy...Is not the boy we once knew. He is different," Labrador said.

"What, do you mean he's an imposter? Then what are we waiting for lets go capture hi-"

"No, Frau, the boy IS Teito. It's just that his eyes are clearer and he no longer seems lost and alone. He has found his destiny...and now wishes to change it."

"What do you mean, Labrador?"

"I… do not know…thee flowers, they're confused…They don't know-I don't know-" Labrador rubbing his temples. "Labrador shouted. "The flowers are screaming in pain…" (2)

"Labrador!" Frau and Castor said, startled.

Labrador ran out of the garden, clutching head. "I-I think I'll go to bed early today," Labrador shouted.

* * *

*In the library the next day*

"The first part of the exam covers a total of 100 topics from all 77 volumes and 7700 chapters of the Barsburg scriptures. It's a written exam," Castor said cheerfully, putting three more books on the desk. "We also have the past editions."

"Ugh, I don't want to see these anymore," Frau grumbled to himself.

_I forgot how intimidating these books could look like_, Teito thought, as he looked at the huge piles of books in front of him.

"_**Do not worry, master, if there is anything you are uncertain of, I can always be of help to you. I can even test you on your knowledge if you ever want me to**_," Mikhail said, happily. Even though it never told anyone, Mikhail loved to read, especially the bible.

"At any rate, we'll have to make sure you learn all these by heart in half a month. Alright?~"

"Don't you 'alright?~' me! There's no way he can do it! It took me three years to do it!" Frau shouted angrily

_The confidence you people have in me is remarkable_...Teito thought.

"_**Do not worry, master. If Zehel insults your intelligence, he insults my intelligence, meaning he wants to be pranked**_," Mikhail said (3).

_What is a prank_? Teito asked, curiously, ignoring the two bishops bickering in the back while he reached out to take Volume one, Book one of the Bible.

"_**Nothing you should worry about, master. You must not ruin your perfect mind with such things**_."

_But you're an angel and you know about it_, Teito pointed out.

"_**That's because I'm a thousand years older than you**_."

"See, Frau? Look at Teito, already working diligently on his studies. Why can't you be as studious as this boy? All you ever do is be a nuisance to me."

"Well, maybe that's because he doesn't have any annoying, too-smart-for-his-own-good partner to bore him to death!"

"Hmm? So you would study more if I wasn't here?" Castor asked.

"Of course not! Why would I want to read some books written by I guy I hate?!"

*SMACK*

"HE'S. GOD!"

* * *

*In one of the Church's courtyards half an hour later*

"The second Exam is a practical using Zaiphon," Castor told Teito. "First, let us test the strength of your Zaiphon."

"If you don't want to die, you better use all your strength," Frau called out from behind a book he was reading.

"Okay!" Teito said, readying himself. He remembered the last time this happened. Before, he didn't take Frau seriously so he only used half of his strength.

*Vr-rrrrrrrooonn*

Like before, a dragon-like manifestation of Zaiphon came out of Castor's hand. Teito quickly placed a shield around himself, putting in all of his strength into the Zaiphon. However, even using that, Teito could just barely block it, being pushed back a few feet.

"_**At least it was better than your first try**_," Mikhail said, trying to be helpful.

"My, Teito-kun, you certainly did better than I had expected at first," Castor said, smiling. "I bet you're wondering how we humble bishops could have such strong Zaiphon, eh"

_No, not really_, Teito thought, but kept silent.

"There are many people in this world that you cannot protect by simply thinking or praying for them. That is why, for the sake of saving people lost in the abyss of despair, we bishops bear arms and fight."

"In other words," Frau said, taking the bascule out of the box and pointing it at Teito, "the clergy job is the extermination of Kor. Because you're still young, your Zaiphon is still weak and unsullied. It should be adequate enough to use this staff."

"_**ZEHEL! How dare you mock my master's strength! My master has a Zaiphon more powerful than any of the weaklings that are to take this exam! Master deserves the most powerful "**_Mikhail said venomously. "_**Master, please, let me teach Zehel a lesson just this once**_!"

_Mikhail, don't over-react! No one is supposed to know that you are fully awake! That could spell ruin for us_, Teito thought.

"Basically, Zaiphon comes from all from all living beings on this world. You can't use it to attack dwellers of the dark," Frau informed Teito. "However, if you channel your Zaiphon through this staff... you can catch and nullify Kor. Here, catch." Frau tossed the bascule towards Teito, who caught it with ease.

"In other words, this staff is a device that converts dark beings?" Teito inquired.

"Exactly."

"We learned with weapons that used Zaiphon at school. I'll give it a try," _and hope to do very, _very_ badly (4)! Mikhail, what do I_?!_ I can't let them know I can use a Bascule_! Teito thought, panicking.

"_**Do not worry master. Just think of negative emotions. The bascule will not respond to those feelings and most likely reject you**_."

_Thanks, Mikhail! Negative emotions, huh? Alright then… _Teito brought to mind all the pain and blood that he caused when executing prisoners or killing enemy soldiers in the battle field. He thought of the frustration and despair he felt when Kurena didn't allow him to escape Miroku's Mansion. He thought of how empty and hollow he had felt after Mikage died-

*Bam* the staff rebounded. It burned in Teito's hands, causing Teito to let go of the bascule and fall back to the flagstones.

"Ouch!" Teito winced in pain. He looked down at his hands to find that they were red from the heat of the Bascule.

"Pya!" Mikage said, worried, as he licked Teito's hands, trying to help stop the pain.

"_**Master, you didn't need to pour THAT much hatred into the staff! Now you've gone and burned yourself!**_" Mikhail scolded.

"Teito-kun!" Castor and Frau walked over to Teito and examined the damage on his hands, frowning. "I'll escort you to the infirmary. The burn should go away in about a day if you put some burn salve on them."

"Don't worry about me. I can find the Infirmary by myself," Teito said, getting to his feet. "But why did it react like that?" Teito ask, feigning ignorance.

"What did you do to this, damn brat? It's burning hot!" Frau exclaimed, dropping the Bascule he was trying to pick up.

"All I did was think about some of my more painful memories. Back at the academy, our weapons would work the best when we were thinking about depressing or painful things," Teito explained.

_No wonder the Bascule rejected him_, Castor thought. "Teito-kun, this weapon is not like the ones used by the army. For one, these Bascules are not mass produced like military weapons. Second of all, you need to pour in your devotion to serve god in order for you to use a Bascule. If you pour negative emotions into it, it won't work for you. But, I suppose this should be enough for the day."

*Snap*

"It looks like someone was looking for you, Teito-kun," Castor said, smiling, as he held the small Kor in his hands. "We will continue training tomorrow."

* * *

*Sigh*

"You know, Mikage, I never knew pretending to be horrible could be so hard…" Teito said, as he walked to where he _thought_ the infirmary was located at.

"Burupya!"

"Well, at least it's over now."

"**_Master, you do know the direction to the infirmary is the opposite way, right_**?"

"Eh?!"

"_**You're heading towards the applicants hall**_."

Teito turned around to walk back the way he just came from when he suddenly bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" Teito said quickly. However, when he saw he he bumped into his jaw nearly fell to the floor. In front of him was a boy with purple eyes wearing the normal white bishop examinee robes. His blond hair was tied in a lose pony tail. _Hakuren_?!

"Of course you were," Hakuren said, disbelievingly. He then proceeded to take out a mirror to admire himself. "Beauty is a wonderful sin…"

"That is…not it…" Teito said, still in shock.

_Not it…_? Hakuren thought as he stared in disbelief at the brunette in front of him. Hakuren pointed at Teito. "You're thinking I'm too cool aren't you?" Hakuren smirked thinking, O_f course, that_ had _to be the reason_! "I'll show you what it is to have a big heart!"

_Wow, I forgot how much of a real freak Hakuren could sound like_, Teito thought, even more shocked than before. "Um, actually, I was trying to find the infirmary. First I thought it was this way, but then I remembered that this was the corridor leading to the applicants' hall," Teito said, sweatdropping. _I forgot how vain Hakuren used to act like too…_

"Hmm?" Hakuren had spotted the badge on Teito's collar. "I see… so you're… my rival?" Hakuren asked, pointing to the badge on his collar. It was the same badge as Teito's. "I'm surprised to think that a fellow examinee would mistaken the applicants' hall as the infirmary, though I suppose you do look like a person who gets lost easily."

"_**You insolent bug! I'll kill you! How dare you insult my master!**_" Mikhail screamed angrily in Teito's head.

_Ack! Mikhail! Don't scream so loud, or else my head will start hurting again!_

"Well, for the time beings shall we shake hands?" Hakuren asked.

"_**No**_."

_Mikhail_.

"I'm Hakuren Oak."

"Teito Klein."

"Every year, it seems like 1,000 applicants or more come to take the examination but… are middle school students taking the exam nowadays too?"

"_**DIE, VERMIN**_!"

_MIKHAIL_! "I'm not a middle school student, fox-face!" Teito said, angrily. "You wouldn't happen to know an idiot called Shuri from that spineless Oak family, would you?" Teito asked. _Hakuren never did answer that question now did he_?

"_**MASTER! You should have said 'fat, mindless, greedy and vain Oaks,' not simply 'spineless Oaks!' Stop being so nice to him!**_"

_'Fox-face?' 'Spineless Oaks?' That pipsqueak!_ "Isn't that a little rude, boy?" Hakuren said, tightening his grip. Unfortunately, that caused Teito's already burned hands to hurt even more.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Teito said, pulling his hand away. _They look redder than they did before!_

Hakuren looked down to see that both of Teito's hands were burned. _Wait, so he was looking for the infirmary? Not only that I probably made his wound hurt even more_! Hakuren thought guiltily.

"Now look what you did!" Teito shouted angrily, before running off to the infirmary.

* * *

*The next day*

Teito had been sitting on the side of the fountain again."

*Sigh*

"_**What is wrong, Master**_?"

_It's nothing, Mikhail. I'm just thinking about the others. I hope they're alright, especially mom. I hope Emperor Wolfram gave mom the antidote already. And Landkarte! He had been right besides the emperor all this time. What if he tries to hurt him? What if Landkarte hurt Ouka or mom? Is Kal still working under Miroku? I suppose he has to, otherwise people might begin to suspect something._

"_**Do not worry master. I am sure that Ea will protect the others from Landkarte.**_

_But if Ea is protecting those three from Landkarte, he would have to leave Miroku! And Miroku would likely get suspicious if the emperor of all people wants Kal to be some sort of body guard, and Miroku will most likely tell Ayanami about this too!_

_**Master, I am sure we will be able to meet the others again soon. All we have to do is wait for that Assistant Archbishop Bastian's funeral**_."

_Why wait until then_? Teito asked, saddened when he remembered Bastian was dead. (5)

"**_Well, for one, everyone will be at the funeral so we can sneak out of the church without anyone noticing_**."

"What about Castor's sister dolls? Won't they be watching?"

"_**If they are then I can use my powers to block the connection between them and those puppets for a short amount of time. That should give us enough time to escape**_."

"You there," someone said from behind him. Teito turned around to see Hakuren. "I want to apologize for being rude-"

"Don't bother," Teito said, too worried about other things at the moment to worry about such petty arguments. "I'm used to it. (6)" With that Teito got up and walked away. _Besides, you'll only get yourself into a lot more trouble if you associate with me any longer_, Teito thought sadly.

_W-why, that annoying pipsqueak! Here I am trying to be nice and he ignores me?!_ Hakuren thought, insulted. _Eh, it doesn't matter. There are a lot more people taking the exam this year... I probably won't be seeing him as often until the exam starts_ that, Hakuren left to go to the library.

* * *

*Back at the same courtyard*

"Ah, Teito-kun, we were just about to go looking for you," Castor said as he saw Teito coming towards them. Castor frowned at the troubled look on Teito's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, good morning, Castor-san, Frau," Teito greeted. "No, nothings wrong."

"Glad to see that your hands are healed now," Frau told him. "The bascule has cooled down so it should be safe to use now."

"Because I believe you need to fight the real thingfor this training to be worthwhile," Castor said, "I have prepared some ~wonderful~ helpers!"

"Tadaa~!" out of no where, three puppets which looked like bad replicas of Frau appeared, startling Teito.

"What do think? They look dangerous don't they?" Castor said excitedly.

"What?! You want to pick a fight with me?!" Frau asked angrily.

_Gah, I'm going to have nightmares! AND WHY ARE THERE THREE OF THEM?!_ "Er, Castor-san, what are they?" Teito asked nervously.

"You know that kor I found earlier this day? Well, I decided that it would be great practice for you to fight the real thing, so I placed parts of the kor's energy into each of these dolls," Castor explain.

_He can do that..._? Teito thought, amazed.

"At first, I had thought your power level would match that of only one of these dolls. However, you showed yourself to be more powerful than I expected yesterday, so I'm sure you'll do fine. And so, I am going to leave you to try and destroy these three puppets. We both will come back and check on you in three hours. Good luck!~" Castor waved happily before walking away, having his sister dolls drag a protesting Frau behind him.

* * *

After they were a few meters away from the courtyard, Frau managed to get out of Castor's grasp "Ack! What's the big idea, four eyes?!" Frau asked. "And why were you in such a hurry to get out?"

"Frau, have you notice something, well... _off_, about Teito-kun, lately?" Castor asked.

"Eh? Off? No, not really," Frau replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know why, but I think that Teito has become more, well, relaxed around the two of us ever since Mikhail appeared two days ago. He also isn't as bothered or depressed as he was before. Having just lost his best friend, it should have taken more time for Teito to fully accept Mikage's death."

"So? Maybe the brat's finally understood that moping around all day long isn't going to do any good. He seems smart enough to realize that," Frau said, shaking off Castor's worries.

"But its strange, isn't it? And, do you remember, when Teito woke up after Mikhail took over his body? He looked so confused and looked as if he was going to pass out at any minute. I doubt he even heard a word I was telling him. It also looked like he didn't have a clue of where (A/N: or _when_ :D) he was. He looked both surprised and relieved when he saw us, too, as if he had thought that we were going to die. And today, he looked like he was thinking of something really troubling."

"...Are you sure you're not thinking too much about it? The kid probably felt tired after Mikhail took over his body. Besides, that still doesn't explain why you wanted us to leave him alone."

"...I simply have a suspicion I want to test, nothing more."

* * *

*Five minutes later, with Teito*

"_**Master, may I please have permission to blast these things to oblivion? Zehel and Fest are gone, and Profe has yet to arrive like he did the last time**_."

"Alright Mikhail, but please don't go overboard," Teito said before closing his eyes. A moment later, he opened them to reveal red irises.

"_**Finally...Finally, after so long...I GET TO DESTROY YOU, ZEHEL! MWHAHAHAHA, PREPARE TO DIE YOU IMBECILES**_!" 'Teito' then laughed evilly before charging at towards the puppets. (7)

*Slam*

_Mikhail! Didn't I tell you not to go overboard?! _Teito thought frantically

*Bang*

_Ack, no, don't blast into the wall! Stop, Mikhail! STOP! _

*Smash*

_MIKHAIL, WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO ATTRACT MORE ATTENTION TO OURSELVES! ARE YOU EVEN _LISTENING_ TO ME?!_

* * *

"Hey, brother, did you hear that?" Liam asked his brother, Wida. The two of them had decided to go exploring the church to take a break from studying.

"Do you mean the banging sound coming from that corridor there? Yes, I did," Wida relied.

"Hey, do you want to go check it out?" Liam asked, excitedly.

"I don't know, Liam, it sounds dangerous," Wida said, nervous as the sounds kept on increasing.

"Oh, come on, brother! We're in the church! If it was something dangerous, then they would probably have it blocked off! Let's go check! Perhaps they're doing some sort of construction on the church! It could be entertaining."

"...Alright, but if its anything dangerous, we're leaving right away, okay?"

"Okay!"

And so they went down the corridor. As they walked, they could see that the one side of the corridor further down were replaced by arches leading outside, allowing light into the hallway.

"Hey, look! The sounds coming from the courtyard!" Liam said before running off.

"Wha-Liam, wait for me!" Wida began to run after his younger brother, who had suddenly stopped, his face pale.

"Liam, what's wro-"

"**Mwhahahaha! Die, vermin, die! I'll break you limb from limb, you insolent pests**!"

Liam and Wida stood in front of one of the archs, paralyzed as they saw a red-eyed brunette a bit taller than Liam. He was wearing what appeared to be mourning garb and was using a bascule to break through a bunch of humanoid things which were _screaming_!

"L-Liam, I think we should..."

"Run?"

"Yes."

"AHHHHHH!" The two of them screamed and ran away as fast as they could back to the library. When they reach the library, they sat at the nearest table they could find, breathing heavily. Hakuren was sitting at the same table and had been in the middle of reading volume 45, chapter 7 of the Barsburg bible when the duo arrived.

"What's wrong?" Hakuren asked, curiously.

"We just escaped from a demon!" Liam exclaimed breathing heavily.

"What? Why would there be a demon in a _church_ of all places?" Hakuren asked confused.

"My brother and I had decided to take a study break and go exploring the church for a while," Wida told the blond. "However, while doing that, we heard a bunch of noises coming from one of the courtyards. When we went to go investigate."

"However, when we got there, we saw a short kid with brown hair and red eyes wearing mourning garb smashing apart these human-like dolls which were screaming! _Screaming_! Dolls don't scream! How is it possible!" Liam exclaimed.

_Brown hair, short height and wears mourning clothes_? Hakuren thought. _Could it be that middle school kid, Teito Klein? No, it can't be, he doesn't have red eyes, they're green. He doesn't seem like the type who could use his Bascule very well either when I first met him. Though appearances_ can _be deceiving_.

* * *

"..."

"Anything wrong, Castor?" Frau asked. He and Castor had decided to take a break and play some chess. They had been playing three hours straight. Frau was losing miserably, much to his ire.

"I'm thinking about Labrador, that's all. I've never seen Labrador act like this before. He's even gotten rid of all the plants in his room and locked himself in. He hasn't come out for nearly two days," Castor informed. "This could also be connected to Teito's new behavior."

"Are you seriously still worried that? But I suppose I can understand why you feel so anxious. Especially now, with so many examinees at the church. And all these funerals that are scheduled in the next two days are making the church even more hectic than usual," Frau sighed. _Bastian-sama, why... why does out of all the people in the church did it have to be you?_

"...You miss him don't you, Frau. Bastian-sama," Castor said, sadly. "Though, I'm quite surprised that Bastian was a Warsphile all this time too, and we have never even noticed it."

"Yeah. You would expect that we would have known immediately if a Warsphile had infiltrated the church, but Bastian-sama's been here for nearly 10 years!"

"Well, anyways, I believe that three hours is nearly up. Let us go check on Teito-kun."

* * *

"_**Ahhh, that felt nice**_," Mikhail said as he looked at the smashed pieces of the dolls in front of it.

"MIKHAIL, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! HOW AM I GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO FRAU AND CASTOR-SAN WHEN THEY COME BACK?!" Teito shouted angrily.

"**_Do not worry, master, this is a necessary part in my plan to fool Fest. He has been noticed that something is amiss. So, in order to prevent him from figuring out the truth, I'm planting in his mind different reasons for why you are acting as such_**."

"How can you plant ideas in other people's minds?" Teito asked, intrigued.

"When I and Raphael was sent down to the human world by the chief of Heaven 1000 years ago to act as the keys to Verloren's body and soul, respectively, he made sure that our souls would be connected to the other seven ghosts. The Chief did this so that if one of the seven ghosts went astray on the righteous path we would be able to manipulate there minds and souls to stay in the road of light. Therefore, I was able to play around with Fest's mind a little without him noticing."

"Then what about Landkarte? He fell way off that road of light long ago," Teito pointed out. "Why didn't you two stop him?"

"That was because of the circumstances surrounding that case. You see, Landkarte's desire was righteous, to rid the world of corruption, even though he had done many terrible things to gain that desire. Therefore, neither me nor Raphael were able to sense Landkarte's descent to darkness. Things only got worse as the Raphael Project had begun to brainwash Raphael more thoroughly. Then the Raggs war began and all the seven continents were shrouded in despair. We couldn't pin point Landkarte at all," Mikhail explained, sadly. "Master, I need you to help make this seem like I had been controlling your body forcefully so they won't think that you are responsible, alright?"

"But, then , won't you get in trouble?"

"Yes, but as long as our secret is kept safe, it matters not."

"Alright," Teito said reluctantly. "But it doesn't mean I have to like it!"

"I'm sorry, master."

* * *

"Hmmm, I wonder how Teito has dealt with my three puppets. Hopefully he was able to handle them. They are quite dangerous, even with that power-limiter on. If he manage to defeat them, then there really must be something strange going on with him," Castor mused. "For him to defeat three dolls even in three hours without any outside help must mean that my suspicion may also be true..."

"Will you give me a break, already?!" Frau said, still sore from losing to Castor so badly. "How many times do I have to tell you, Teito is perfectly fi-".

"AHHH!"

"Teito!" Frau and Castor ran to the courtyard as fast as they could.

"Damn brat, are yo-" Frau started before stopping mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open when he saw. Around Teito were dozens of broken smashed remains of the practice puppets. Teito was now using the Bascule to further blast the puppets and the surrounding walls to smithereens.

"SOMEONE, HELP ME! I CAN'T STOP!" Teito screamed panicking.

"Frau, quick, put Teito to sleep!" Castor ordered.

"Alright!" Frau ran to Teito, step siding the Zaiphon speeding towards him. "Stop attack me, brat! SLEEP!" Frau said, once again using the pendulum yet again. (Frau, didn't I already tell you? You don't need to use the pendulum." "Be quiet glasses!")

After Teito went to sleep yet again, Castor had one of his sister dolls take Teito and the bascule back to the guest room. The other sister dolls were cleaning up the mess Teito/Mikhail left behind.

"Castor, did you know that would happen?" Frau asked.

"Of course not! It was just a suspicion."

"Well, then, what is it? What is that suspicion you keep talking about?!"

"You see, I think that Mikhail has been the cause of Teito's change in behavior. Mikhail might also have been worried about its master's condition after Mikage's death. Therefore, it increased its presence in Teito's mind in order to take away the emotional pain Teito felt deep in his heart. It also might have helped Teito get more accustomed to being around us because Mikhail gave Teito its own memories and feelings towards the seven ghosts, such as its strong dislike towards you, Frau."

"Eh? It can do that?" Frau asked. "And here I thought it was just an arrogant brat who couldn't do anything right."

*Slam*

"And that attitude of yours towards Mikhail is the reason why Mikhail went wild and destroyed all those replicas of you," Castor said angrily, as he brought his fist down on Frau's head. "Seriously, if you acted nicer towards Mikhail, Mikhail wouldn't have had such a strong desire to hunt down and completely annihilate my creations." Castor sighed. "Though the reason Mikhail also did this might also be because it wants to protect its master from feeling anymore pain than he already feels."

"... You know, this might also explain Labrador's headache," Frau said after a pause, still rubbing his sore head.. "He might have confused Teito's and Mikhail's futures, since their minds are more intertwined now. But what about the brat? Is he aware of what Mikhail is doing?"

"I don't know that yet. However, from now on I'll have my puppets watch Teito-kun even closer than before," Castor replied. "You'll also have to erase Teito-kun's memories. He already has enough on his mind without having to worry about a god controlling his body and mind."

* * *

(1) Teito feels guilty for not having been with Mikage during the time Teito had been brainwashed into serving the black hawks and the military.

(2) Labrador can't use the flowers for prophecy for the next two months if it concerns Teito because the time travel has caused the future to change. He won't know whether the outcome will be good or not.

(3) Angels prank people too.

(4) In order to keep his cover, Teito has to pretend to be completely useless with a Bascule.

(5) Teito believes that he is somehow to blame for Bastian's death. Even though Teito knows that this is for the best, he feels sad that Bastian left Frau's side this time without a word.

(6) Teito had to go through with taunts like those for three years in military school and was mostly treated badly as a battle slave.

(7) These puppets are not like Castor's other dolls. They don't share a part of Castor's soul. Instead, Castor uses the kor to power the puppets.

* * *

Thanks for reading! The reunion will take place in the next chapter, I promise!


	5. Book One: Kapitel 4: Who Are You?

...I'm sorry but I'm pushing the reunion to the next chapter. -_- I know I promised I would put it in this chapter but it got too long and would have gotten longer if I had added the reunion.

I also found out that Hyuuga is alive in Kapitel 96. The flower seeds we saw Labrador give Hyuuga in Kapitel 89 transformed Hyuuga's darkness into life energy, thus saving him. (WHY, LAB, WHY?! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO SAVE THE BAD GUYS! D:) However, it doesn't change the fact that he is dead in my story and he is going to STAY dead.

* * *

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN 07-GHOST IN ANY SUCH MANNER OR WAY

PLEASE REVIEW APPROPRIATELY AND RESPECTFULLY! NO CURSING IN YOUR REVIEWS! D:

* * *

"..." - Speaking

_Italics_ - Thoughts and dreams

**_Bold italics_ **- Mikhail/Raphael talking in Teito/Ouka's minds

**Bold** - Mikhail/Raphael talking when they take over their masters' bodies and dreams

* * *

Summary: Pandora's box is breaking apart, Mikhail is damaged and Verloren's soul is coming closer as each second passes by. Fearing for their Masters' future, Raphael, with the help of Mikhail, help send Kal (Ea), Teito, Ouka, Wolfram and Millea back two months around the time when Teito Klein first deserted the military. How will Teito cope with reliving the past again? Will he help change things for the better or for the worse?

* * *

*A few hour later, Teito's dream*

_Snow... How__ many times have I seen this snow in my dreams? It was always so beautiful. The gentle snow... so beautiful...and yet so cruel._

**In exchange please give me that child**

_A cruel and lonely place..._

_It hurts...where am I?_

_King Raggs...Father..._

_Father...I'm here...why can't I move?_

_"...Queen...if the prince is causing you that much pain... It's all the more reason why he should die..."_

**In exchange please give that child to me**

_"Now, now, what's wrong?"_

_I can't find it, the flower to give to father. Mother is sick so father alwaaays has a sad face._

_"IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BORN I WOULD STILL BE LOVED...!"_

_Scary. Father save me...I'm scared..._

_"I HATE YOU!"_

_Hot...my back hurts...Burning..._

_"AA-AA-AAAAH! I-I- WHAT HAVE I-"_

_"It is possible to escape from this felony... the queen's life can be saved."_

_What is this... its red...?_

"**In return give that child to me**."

* * *

*Gasp*

Teito woke up, clutching his rapidly beating heart. _Just a dream, it was just a dream..._ Teito thought trying to steady his breathing.

"_**Are you alright master**_?" Mikhail asked worried. "_**I tried to wake you up earlier but you locked me out of your dream scape. I managed to break into it, though**_."

_Thank you, Mikhail_, Teito said gratefully before he looked around to find himself back in the guest room. Mikage was sleeping near to his pillow and the Bascule Teito was using the previous day He frowned. _When _did_ I fall asleep, Mikhail?_ Teito asked confused. _Wasn't I going to train with Frau and Castor-san?_

"_**Oh, you did, a few hours **__**earlier. However, when you finished, they just erased your memory of the event**_," Mikhail replied.

"WHAT?!" Teito asked, angrily.

"_**Fest's exact words were 'He already has enough on his mind without having to worry about a god controlling his body and mind**_, (1)'" Mikhail said. "_**Apparently my plan worked. However, he's now going to keep a closer eye on us, so now we can't sneak away unnoticed during Bastian-sama's funeral**_."

_What are we going to do now, then? _Teito asked.

"_**Isn't it obvious? We destroy Fest's puppets and run as fast as we can out of the church before anyone can stop us**_."

_Then what was the point of your 'plan?' They're still suspicious of us!_

"**_The point was to hide our identities as time travelers. Now those ghosts will not put much thought as to why you might act differently. They'll probably just blame it on me."_**

_That doesn't really help things and how am I acting differently? _Teito asked, surprised.

"_**Master, **_**please**_** tell me you've noticed**_."

_Noticed what?_

"_**You have come a long way from being a suicidal teenager who had just lost his best friend, master. Even though your scars are still there, you are more relaxed now. You aren't uncertain about where your loyalties lie and you now have a definite goal to reach for**_."

_I suppose so..._

**_"By the way, Fest _****did_ send his dolls to spy on us. They're hiding in_ _the closet and in the hollow spaces in the walls._**"

_The walls are hollow? I never knew that..._ *Sigh* "Well, this certainly complicates things," Teito muttered. _Mikhail, can you tell me what happened earlier today then?_

"..._**It's best if you don't know, actually**_."

_...You did something didn't you?_

"_**Noooooo**_..."

_Don't lie to me, Mikhail._

"_**I'm not lying**_."

"WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU DO?!"

"_**Master, if I told you, you would probably stressed over what the point of it was, the point being a personal dislike towards a certain ghost. All you need to concern yourself with is not passing out. For some reason, your body STILL hasn't completely accepted your soul**_!"

_I thought we already worked that out two days ago_!

"_**Oh, no, we just sorted out your memories. There isn't really all that much we can do to help your body accept a foreign soul**_."

_My souls not foreign_.

"_**Your soul came from the future. Of course its foreign**_!"

"MY SOUL IS NOT FOREIGN! I'm the exact same person as I was before!" (2)

"**_Master, I do believe Fest can hear whatever is spoken in this room, so I suggest you don't scream too loudly_**."

*Knock, knock*

"Oh, um, coming!" Teito called out, jumping off his bed and making his way to the door. When he opened it, he saw Rosalie standing in front of the door.

"Good evening, Teito-kun! Bishop Castor told me that you fell unconscious again today! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Teito-kun, you really should eat more! If you don't, you won't have enough stamina to stay awake for a whole day!" Rosalie scolded gently. "And I'm not the only one who thinks that, so you better come down to dinner today, or else I and the other sisters will have no other choice than to come and drag you down to the cafeteria by force."

"Er, don't worry, Sister Rosalie, I'll make sure to come down to dinner today," Teito said, sweat-dropping. _Hmm, now that I think about it, I never did go down to eat breakfast and I must have slept through lunch time_.

"_**Master, you really should take care of your health more**_," Mikhail said.

_Alright, Mikhail_.

"Oh, yes, before I forget, Castor-san also asked me to show you to your new room," Rosalie said cheerfully.

"My new room?" Teito asked before remembering that most examinees were expected to stay at the applicants' hall until the beginning on the exam. _That means I'll be room mates with Hakuren again_.

"Yes. All examinees have to stay in the applicants' hall. The dorms are closer to the infirmary, library and cafeteria, so they're really convenient," Rosalie explained. "Do you want to pack any of your belongings then, Teito-kun?"

"No, I really don't have anything besides that Bascule," Teito replied.

"Really?" Rosalie asked. "Then I'll deliver some more clothes for you to wear tomorrow before the funerals start."

"Funerals?" Teito asked, picking up Mikage and the Bascule that was beside his bed before running after Rosalie.

"Oh, didn't you hear? There is going to be a large funeral ceremony for the people who had dropped dead because of a mysterious cause two days ago," Rosalie explained.

_So quickly_? Teito thought.

"_**Isn't that great, master? We can sneak out of the Barsburg church tomorrow without having to deal with Profe, Zehel or Fest!**_" Mikhail said, excitedly.

"Apparently, this isn't only happening at the church," Rosalie continued. "Scores of people around the empire have been found to have died the same way at the exact same time. Not only that, the Bishops who went to travel to lands outside the empire's borders have reported in similar deaths."

_Were all those people really destined to die in just two months?_ Teito thought

"_**It seems so. I wouldn't see any other reason for them to have died like that if they haven't**_," Mikhail replied.

"Have you also heard about Bishop Labrador?"

"N-no, I haven't. What is it? Did something bad happen to him?" Teito asked.

"Apparently, he's locked himself in his room ever since the evening before last. It's really worrying. When I asked Bishop Castor, all he said was that Labrador-san has a terrible headache," Rosalie said sadly. "I hope Bishop Labrador will be well enough to attend the funerals."

_I wonder what happened to Labrador-san_, Teito thought.

"_**You can try asking Fest and Zehel later. Ask the nun when the funnerals will begin and end**_."

"Rosalie, how long will the funerals last?" Teito asked

"They'll begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 8 p.m. There will also be a hour long break so all those attending will get a chance to eat Lunch. The funeral will be for the criminals who worked at the church, the assistant archbishop Bastian, the pope and the villagers from the surrounding town who had also passed away. The entire funeral wilL be funded by the church."

"Wha- THE POPE DIED?!" Teito shouted.

"_**Well, that's a surprise**_," Mikhail stated.

"Yes, it's shocking isn't it?" Rosalie said. "You aren't the only one who didn't know, either. The bishops are trying to keep this quiet until the actual funeral begins."

"Then should you have really told me that?"

"Oh, don't worry. It won't matter much since half of the church probably already knows about it."

"I see."

"We're here," Rosalie said, stopping in front of an ordinary wooden door. " I'll introduce you to your roommate. I hope you will become great friends!"

"I'll try my best."

*Knock knock*

"Coming," a voice was heard from behind the door.

* * *

Hakuren had no idea how to mark this day so far. He didn't know if it should be classified as good, bad, normal or strange. First, he woke up in his new dorm at 6:00 a.m.. He got dressed before going down to eat breakfast in the large cafeteria at 7:00 a.m. After finishing, he went for a walk around the church, encountering Teito along the way at around 8:00 a.m. He had been sitting on one of the staircases of the church. Hakuren had gone up to him to apologize for his earlier rudeness but the shorty had the nerves to ignore the apology and walk away without a second glance. He had gone to the library, frustrated. However, during the whole way, Hakuren had started to have a headache. It was as if there was a small voice in his head telling him that he shouldn't be there in the church, that he should be doing something more important.

_Leave, Hakuren!_ The small voice kept saying. _You have more important things to do! Don't you remember? He's your comrade! You promised to fight as brothers in arms! You have to get out of here and save him!_

_Save who_? Hakuren tried asking.

But it only said, _Stop playing ignorant! You already know the answer! (3)_

By the time he finally got to the library, his headache had gotten worse. He thought about going to the infirmary, but, surprisingly, his headache had gone down when he got to the library.

_Strange, I wonder what that was about_... Hakuren thought. He decided to read the entire volume of chapter 45 again, to make sure that he had it memorized it, since, last night, his memory was a bit fuzzy at that moment. He was only on chapter 7 when two more examinees came running into the library as if Verloren himself was chasing them around 10:00 a.m.

"What's wrong?" Hakuren asked, curiously.

"We just escaped from a demon!" the one with purple hair exclaimed breathing heavily.

"What? Why would there be a demon in a _church_ of all places?" Hakuren asked confused.

"My brother and I had decided to take a study break and go exploring the church for a while," the one with the black hair in a pony tail told the blond. "However, while doing that, we heard a bunch of noises coming from one of the courtyards. When we went to go investigate-"

"When we got there, we saw a short kid with brown hair and red eyes wearing dark robes smashing apart these human-like dolls which were screaming! _Screaming_! Dolls don't scream! How is it possible?!" the purple-haired one exclaimed.

_Brown hair, short height and wears dark clothes_? Hakuren thought. _Could it be that middle school kid, Teito Klein? No, it can't be, he doesn't have red eyes, they're green. He doesn't seem like the type who could use his Bascule very well either when I first met him. Though appearances_ can _be deceiving. I'll go try and find him later and ask him about it_.

Afterwards, Hakuren and the two examinees decided to review volume 45 together for the time being. He learned that their names were Wida and Liam. The two of them were brothers who lived in the town surrounding the Barsburg Church. There parents had died when they were younger so it was just the two of them. They had wanted to be able to protect one another better so they were studying to become bishops.

After that the three went down to the dinning hall for lunch at 12:00 p.m. Strangely enough, Hakuren couldn't seem to find the small brunette any where.

_It shouldn't be that hard to spot him. He's probablythe only examinee not wearing white robes. He wears_ mourning _robes of all things_, Hakuren thought. _Did he come from a funeral recently? Come to think of it, wasn't there a funeral ceremony two days ago? That was the same day all those people started dying. I still can't believe the head of the Oak family has also passed away. Hopefully, that loser, Shuri won't become the head of the family. I may not like that kid all too much for insulting my family and my face, but I do agree with him about Shuri. That guy's an idiot! __... I haven't seen Teito at breakfast either. And last night his hands were burned. But why should I care about him? I barely knew him for a day! And why do I feel like running away from this church? There isn't anything for me to do out there!_

After lunch, he bid Liam and Wida farewell and went back to the library to finish reading volume 45. After reading for 3 more hours (4 p.m.) Hakuren decided to go back to his dorm. Thanks to Wida and Liam, Hakuren was able to review the volume faster than he could have and only had 22 chapters left in the volume. Hakuren checked out 5 of the books so he could read them in his dorm before going off to the training hall. He had been reading for half an hour when their was a knock on his door.

"Coming," Hakuren said before he got out of his seat to answer the door. However, when he opened it, Hakuren's eyes widened in shock. Standing outside the door was a nun and Teito Klein, himself. _And the only reason why he would be here is if_...

"Hello, my name is Rosalie and this here is your new room mate, Teito Klein," the nun, Rosalie said. "Teito, this here is Hakuren Oak from the first district, and he will be your roommate for the duration of the exam."

"Please change it / **Please change it**," Hakuren and 'Teito' (It was actually Mikhail who said it) said simultaneously.

_...Did his voice change just now?_ Hakuren thought, surprised. _No, maybe it was just my imagination_.

"Not happening," Rosalie said, before continuing as if she was talking to a couple of little kids. "Roommates are determined in order to act as a team to improve and challenge each other. The spirits of affection and service are the first steps of serving God."

However, all Hakuren and 'Teito' (again, Mikhail) did was glare at each other.

* * *

After Rosalie had left, Hakuren had gone back to his studies while Teito sat on the other desk studying the Bascule in his hands.

_Mikhail, Can I ask you a question?_ Teito asked. _Why did you ask Rosalie to switch rooms? You already knew that we couldn't._

"**_It's just that I don't like that boy's attitude towards you_**."

_That's it_?

"**_What do you mean, 'that's it'?! For most of your life you have been mistreated, isolated and ridiculed. It's just that I can't bear it when someone you consider close does not take you seriously_**."

_Don't worry about it, Mikhail. You know that Hakuren isn't like that._

Behind Teito, Hakuren closed the book he was reading and got up. He picked up his bascule and said, "We're going to Bascule training now. Get ready."

"Huh?"

"_**And now he's ordering my master**_," Mikhail mumbled.

Hakuren sighed. "I wonder if you can even use a Bascule...Middle Schooler."

"Don't call me a middle schooler!" Teito said, angrily. _Sheesh, what is with blond people and calling me short?_ "And you can go on without me. I need to sort out some things before hand."

"Alright, if you say so," Hakuren said before walking out of the room.

"_**Master, you should skip training today and get some more rest**_."

"Why? I already slept half the day away. If I get anymore sleep, I'll get sick of it!"

"_**Alright, Master, but don't blame me if you fall unconscious on the way to the training room!**_"

With that, Teito got up and walked out of the room. _If I'm not mistaken, the training hall was this way_, Teito thought. He walked down several hallways and staircases until he reached the corridor leading directly to the Kor Palace. _It should be right around the cor-_

_"I HATE YOU!"_

"Ah!" _My head...It's hurting again_, Teito thought, falling down to his knees.

"_**Master**_!"

_"YOU... WHAT ARE YOU?!"_

_"I can offer a substitute corpse...The queen's life can be spared..."_

_Why do I feel so tired? _Teito thought, his vision swimming.

_"Tonight's vessel... is truly beautiful."_

* * *

"BURUPYA!" Mikage said worried, as it licked Teito's face.

"_**I knew it**_!" Mikhail said- after Teito fell unconscious. "_**I knew this would happen! This is why I told master to go back to his room, but did he listen to me? no! No one ever listens to me, unlike Raphael. how does it do that?! even in heaven the other angels would listen to raphael more than me! It's just not fair! I should've just taken over and bring master ba**_-"

"Hey, are you alright?"

* * *

After Wida and Liam had left Hakuren at lunch, the two of them went back home to get their Bascules. They had left their Bascules at home since they thought it would be burdensome to carry them around all day. On their way back to the church, they got side-tracked by street performers showing monkeys performing acrobats and playing instruments. They stayed there for about half an hour before continuing on their way to the church.

When they got there, they saw some of the sisters were having trouble carrying winter supplies so they decided to help them store away the goods. After two hours of weightlifting (Liam: "Wow, these things weigh a ton!" Random Sister: "Of course they do! These supplies are supposed to last all winter and to support all the nuns and bishops who live here.") Wida and Liam went to the water fountain to rest from carrying supplies.

After 10 minutes, they went down to the training hall with the ninth group (4) and practiced using their Bascules for around two hours. When their time was up, Liam and Wida decided to go to the library to study some more before dinner. However, while leaving the training hall, they heard something down one of the corridors and found someone had collapsed onto the floor. Wida and Liam ran to the person.

"Hey, are you alright?" Wida asked, coming closer. The two of them knelt down.

"W-Wida, isn't that the kid from before?" Liam asked. He hesitantly tried to shake the boy awake, but the kid wouldn't wake up. "What should we do?! He looks like he fainted."

"We should take him to the infirmary," Wida said. "Maybe then we can ask him about what he was doing in the courtyard."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course! He might have been scary before but he needs our help now, doesn't he?"

"Alright, brother. But what's this pink rabbit doing here?" Liam asked pointing to the pink fyulong still licking the boy's face.

"Pya, pya!" It kept saying. Wida's eyes widened in shock.

"It's a baby Fyulong dragon! They are said to be god's messengers who used to guard Raggs Castle before the Raggs War 10 years ago. There is also the rumor that the Fyulong dragons are the ones that caused the fifth district to be completely frozen and uninhabitable." Wida informed his younger brother. "We should take it with us. It seems very worried about his friend."

Wida carried the brunette on his back while Liam held the three bascules, the fyulong deciding to sit on Liam's head for the time being. Once they reached the infirmary, one of the sisters rushed over to them.

"Hello, how may I- Teito-kun?! Did he fall unconscious again? Here, let me take him," the sister said.

Another sister came over to help put the boy, whom Wida and Liam supposed was Teito, onto one of the beds. The fyulong jumped from Liam's head and bounced to Teito's side, rubbing its head against the brunette's. Liam went over to pace Teito's bascule besides his bed

"Um, excuse me," Wida asked, "my name is Wida and this is my brother, Liam. We were wondering if you could tell us who that boy is?"

"We found him unconscious in one of the corridors. He looked like he was on his way to the training hall," Liam added.

"Thank you for carrying him to the infirmary," the first sister said. "My name is Arianna and this here is Sabrina. The boy you brought here is Teito Klein. This is the second day in a row he had come to the infirmary."

"It has?" Wida asked.

"Oh, yes. Yesterday he came in with his hands burned. It wasn't too severe so we were able to give him some burning salve. It looks like they've fully healed now."

"He's been falling unconscious a lot, recently, too," Sister Sabrina said. "Isn't it the third time this week?"

"No, it's the fourth. The first time was when Sister Rosalie found him injured in an abandoned hallway she never saw before."

"And then there was that time when the bishops first brought him here. He was covered in blood and dirt and his clothes were tattered and he was wearing chains."

"Well, you can't really expect much from that. He did get trapped in a avalanche."

"True, true."

The two nuns were so wrapped up in their discussion that they forgot that Liam and Wida were there, listening in to their conversation, the color draining from their faces.

_An avalanche? Blood? Falling unconscious several times? He was wearing CHAINS?!_ Wida thought.

_No wonder the fyulong was so worried about him_, Liam thought. "Will he be ok?" Liam asked.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure he just fainted from fatigue and hunger. You see, he hasn't eaten anything all day today," Sabrina told them.

"He wasn't at dinner last night or the night before," Arianna said. "We were planning on tying him up before putting Teito into a potato sac and carrying him down to the cafeteria by force if he had decided to skip dinner again."

_Isn't that a bit extreme...?_ Wida and Liam thought together. "You seem very attached to Teito-kun," Wida remarked.

"That's because Teito is a lost lamb who has been through very much in his life," Arianna said sadly. "You can tell by looking at his eyes."

"We want Teito to feel right at home here at the church, but sometimes we feel like he wants to run away from this place and never see it again," Sabrina added

"Hey, do you want to know something strange?" Arianna asked the two examinees.

"Sure..." They said, not really thinking they needed to know.

"Every time Teito-kun tries to leave the church, the bishops always drags him back against his will," Arianna said. "It's almost as if they know something bad is going to happen to him if he leaves the church."

"Really? But shouldn't it really be Teito's decision whether he stays or leaves the church?" Wida asked.

"It should be but if the bishops don't want Teito-kun to go then there must be a good reason behind it."

"I suppose..." Wida said, not really sure what to think. "Well, anyways, Liam and I have to go to the library to study some more before dinner. Good day."

"Good day," Liam called from behind his back as he walked after Wida.

"Good bye," the sisters said, cheerfully.

* * *

"_**Murderous Intent... rising... I'LL KILL YOU**_!" Mikhail screamed in Teito's head. It had listened to the whole conversation between the examinees and the sisters. It had a strong urge to gain control of Teito's body and beat the nuns' brains on the marble floor. "**_HOW DARE YOU GO AND GOSSIP ABOUT MY MASTER TO COMPLETE STRANGERS?! HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF PRIVACY?! And those two insects will probably go and tell all the other insects in the church and then they will probably make fun of my master and I WANT TOO KILL THEM_**!"

Unfortunately, there was nothing Mikhail could do. If it tried to take over Teito's body, Teito would be even more drained than he already was. It also knew that Fest was still watching its master closely, and Mikhail didn't want to attract the meddling ghost attention anymore than he already had. Mikhail was sure that Teito would be catching more of it after the two of them escaped the church.

* * *

Labrador had finally come out of his room out of hunger. Two days of eating practically nothing had become too much for the young Bishop. Labrador however refused to go near the edible flowers in the cafeteria. As a result, Castor, Labrador and Frau decided to eat a belated lunch/ early dinner in Frau's room. Castor's room was too cluttered and messy with different tools, equipment and puppet parts for all three of them to fit in to the room. Labrador's room too was small and disorganized (Frau: "Why is your room so small?! And why is it that both of your rooms look like a tornado hit the place?!" Castor: "I may be a genius, but a neat freak I am not." Labrador: "Small places make me feel safe. I was destroying flowers, seeds and pots because it gave me a headache."). Frau had made a bunch of cookies, cupcakes and banana bread to make Labrador feel better. (Castor: "My, my, Frau. You really do have a heart!" Frau: "Shut up, ya damn glasses." *Smack* Castor: "Don't call me that name. It's bad enough that Lance uses it.")

"I never knew going without food for long periods of time could make food more appetizing. I can see why Teito managed to eat so much when he first arrived here!" Labrador exclaimed, quickly but neatly eating the baked goods in front of him.

"Eh, the kid just ate that much to grow taller," Frau said indifferently. "If it wasn't for that and us dragging him down to the cafeteria, he would have gone off without eating anything."

"Ah, I haven't talked to Teito-kun in a while. Did he get moved to the applicants hall yet?"

"Yes, he has," Castor informed, taking a bite out of the sugar-coated cookie. "Though it seems that Teito is neglecting his health."

"Huh? Did the brat do something stupid again?" Frau asked alarmed.

"Relax Frau. Teito-kun just forgot to eat for nearly a day and has fallen unconscious due to either hunger or stress."

"WHAT?!" Frau shouted. "Don't you think you should have told us that sooner?!"

"Didn't I just tell you to relax, Frau? Don't worry, Teito is back in the infirmary and it's not like he's going to die or anything."

"It's quite strange, though," Castor mused. "You would have expected battle slaves to have more endurance than that. I would say that Teito must have been under a lot of stress to fall unconscious so many times so far."

"That is to be expected. Teito-kun _did _lose a very precious friend," Labrador supported.

"Don't forget Mikhail," Frau added, annoyed. "Seriously, what's its problem? It's like it hates to even hear my name."

"It probably does," Labrador told him. "I mean, you _did _try to devour Teito-kun's soul."

"It wasn't on purpose!" Frau protested. "The scythe acted on its own!"

"And _you_ should have better control on your scythe," Castor interupted. "really now, you had this scythe for how long now? Ten years or so?"

"HEY! Do you know how hard it is to control this damn thing?! It's a miracle that I survived this long!"

Castor winced. "I'm sorry Frau. That was insensitive of me."

"You're damn right you're sorry! Not only does it take most of my willpower to control it, do you know how picky it is?! 'Only the best of the best' it says. 'Nothing but the best. I won't eat this garbage!' And then I have to force it to eat the wars souls and make sure it doesn't devour the pure human soul along with it!"

"Yes, Frau. You're devotion and determination is greatly appreciated by the Barsburg church. But it would be nice if you put this sort of effort into your reports and paper work," Castor told Frau. "That way, you would be helping us poor souls who usually get stuck with doing the work you neglect every single time."

"I don't have time for paper work! At night I'm out purifying wars and removing Kors, and during the day, I'm busy catching up on sleep, playing with the orphans, sometimes going to mass and now watching out for the brat."

"Alright, children that will be enough," Labrador interjected. "The past is the past, and, Castor, you know that nothing will get Frau to do his paperwork, not even burning _those_ things."

*Sigh* "Yes, I suppose that _is _true. I have already lost count at how many times I had to burn _them._"

"Evil..." Frau hissed.

"But Labrador is right. We can discuss this at a later time. Right now, we have to focus on the 'BIG' problem," Castor continued gravely, ignoring Frau.

"And that would be...?" Frau asked, uncertainly.

"As we all know, Labrador has grown a sort of headache whenever he is near large concentrations of flowers. Even though we do not know _why_ exactly this is the case, I have come to the conclusion that Labrador's powers with plants has jump to a new level, meaning that she can here all the flowers talking about _everything_ from the future. And when I say everything, I _mean_ everything, right down the the next minute. All that is about to happen in the world, at every single place, whether it be just a millisecond or an eternity."

"Sounds bothersome," Frau commented.

"Hell is a more accurate description," Labrador murmured.

"As such, I have decided to test Labrador's affinity to all the different flowers that grow in the Barsburg Empire," Castor declared.

Silence.

"Come again?" Frau and Labrador asked.

"I'm going to test Labrador's affinity to all the different flowers that grow in the Barsburg Empire," Castor repeated.

"How?!"

"Simple." Castor got up and pointed at the door. "Outside this door, lies most of my sister dolls, lined up, each hold one type of every type of flower found throughout the empire, whether it be as rare as dinosaur or as common as the ocean water underneath the floating continents."

"Thank you, Castor-san!" Labrador said, happily. " I know that the Barsburg church itself doesn't have all the varieties of flowers in the whole must have been hard work to get all of those plants together."

"Oh, no, I didn't do anything at all," Castor said with a wave of his hand. I just made sure to label all of them and make sure that I wasn't missing anything. If there's anyone who's to be thanked, it's Frau for so kind as o collect all these flowers from all seven districts in two days."

"Wha- hey, wait a minute, you told me you needed those plants to make some sort of medicine for a poor sick person with a rare and never before documented disease!"

"Well, it is true. This has never happened to any of the previous Profes according to the memories of Cuvere, and Labrador is a poor soul that desperately needs our help- no offense, Labrador."

"None taken," Labrador said, still happy.

"Well at least you could have told me," Frau muttered.

"But how did you manage to get all those plants so quickly Frau?" Labrador asked curiously.

"I was wondering about that too," Castor said.

"...Secret," was all Frau would say. (4)

* * *

Hakuren had been waiting for Teito outside the cavern entrance, but he had not seen the other boy yet. The red-haired nun was already about to lead the last group down the staircase leading to the training room. (5) _I wonder if the middle schooler's alright. He probably got lost again. Why do I even care_?

_Are you seriously asking that question_? the same small voice said.

_Go away, you're annoying_, Hakuren thought irritated.

"Alright, everyone, we are going to pass through the barrier now," the nun said.

"Look at my bascule," one of the examinees behind Hakuren told his friend as the group descended the staircase beyond the door in the cavern.

"Cool! Isn't that the latest style?" his friend asked. "You're probably going to be the best one here!"

_And they expect to pass the bishop exam_? Hakuren scoffed inwardly. _It doesn't matter what model your Bascule is. If you can't synchronize with it, it's completely worthless. Only the wielder can bring forth the true power of a bascule_.

"And finally, this is the place where you will practice," the nun said, stopping in front of tall black doors framed in gold. "Although this is merely a training hall, please remember to stand strong in your beliefs."

With that, the doors opened to show a tunnel with hundreds, if not thousands, of trapped Kor swimming in a body of water.

"They're Kor trapped within a barrier of water," Hakuren informed to no one in particular. Most of the other examinees were too awed by the Kor's palace to actually pay attention.

"That is correct," the nun said, smiling. "However, keep in mind that, though the kor cannot exit the water, these Kor are all real."

"Amateurs should step back," Hakuren said, aiming his bascule at the Kor. With perfect aim, Hakuren managed to destroy five of the Kor on his first try.

"Awesome!" One of the examinees said.

"He hit all of them dead on," another one said jealously.

_This isn't all I can do either_, Hakuren thought, as he readied his aim once again.

_Why are you wasting time here? You need to get back to Houborg Fortress_! the small voice in his head said.

_Oh, just be quiet. There's nothing for me to do at Houborg fortress_, Hakuren thought. _I spent years studying to become a bishop. I can't just leave empty handed_.

_But you already passed the exam! You're the Princess' teacher_!

_I don't know what you're talking about_. Hakuren shot at another Kor, destroying it.

* * *

After leaving the infirmary, Wida and Liam went to the library as planned, they looked up on supplementary texts that would help with their understanding of the major events mentioned in the scriptures. After 2 hours of searching and reading, they went back to the cafeteria for dinner. after getting their eyefish soup soaked in winkhob, they looked around for a few minutes before spotting Hakuren sitting at a table near the entrance.

"Hakuren-kun!" Wida and Liam called out, walking towards Hakuren's table before setting their trays down and sitting opposite from Hakuren.

"Wida-kun, Liam-kun, it's nice to see you again," Hakuren said, looking up.

"You won't believe who we met on our way from the training hall!" Liam said. "It was the boy we were telling you about before."

"We found him lying unconscious on one of the corridors leading to the training hall," Wida added. "We brought him to the infirmary so he should be alright now."

"When did you find him?" Hakuren asked.

"About two hours ago."

"Did his name happen to be Teito Klein, then?"

"H-how did you know?!" Liam asked the blonde, shocked.

"He's my new room mate," Hakuren explained. "We were suppose to go to the training hall with the last group going before dinner but he told me to go on ahead. I wanted to ask him about that incident you told me about after I've seen how skilled he was with a bascule. However, he never showed up, so when you said that you found a small brown-haired boy lying unconscious on the hallway leading to the training hall 2 hours ago, it isn't that difficult to figure out who it was. Do you know why he fainted?"

"Sister Sabrina that Teito-kun hasn't eaten in a while" Wida asked Hakuren. "When we took him to the infirmary and the nuns even said that they were conspiring to kidnap Teito and drag him down to dinner."

"I find that a bit too extreme to believe," Hakuren stated. "Though it explains why he's so short."

"They sisters also talked about how Teito first came to the church," Liam said, excitedly. "They say that when these bishops first brought him to the church, he was covered with dirt and blood and he had chains on. They also mentioned something about an avalanche."

Hakuren's eyes widened. "Really? Did the sisters say anything else?"

"They also said that the Bishops won't let him leave the church," Liam replied. "Every time Teito tried to leave the church, the bishops would always drag him back."

_Hmm, it seems that the more I learn about Teito the less I understand him_, Hakuren thought perplexed. "What could be so dangerous that the bishops would personally stop him from leaving church grounds?"

"The nuns didn't tell us. But they did say that this was the fourth time this week that Teito fell unconscious," Wida said. "He also went to the infirmary yesterday because he burned his hands."

"Hey, Wida, Hakuren, maybe we should try to find out more about Teito-kun!" Liam said. "He sounds like an intriguing person, and I bet it will be fun to try and solve out who he really is!"

"I really don't think that we should do that, Liam," Wida said. "It's up to Teito if he wants anyone to know who he is, and we are like complete strangers to him."

"Well, then, I'm sure we can at least try to become friends with Teito. For all we know, he probably doesn't have a friend his age at the church."

"I suppose we could. What about it, Hakuren-kun? Do you want to help us?"

"I don't think I can become friends with the middle schooler, but I can try, if you want." _Besides, this mystery surrounding Teito is growing thicker the more I learn about him. He might also know about that irritating voice in my head_.

"Excuse me? Hakuren-kun?" someone said from behind Wida and Liam. Hakuren looked up to see that it was Sister Rosalie again.

"How may I help you, Sister Rosalie?" Hakuren asked.

"Do you know if Teito-kun came down to dinner yet?" Rosalie asked.

"The last I've heard, he fell unconscious and so was taken to the infirmary," Hakuren informed the nun."

"What?! Again?! When did he fall unconscious?"

"Around two hours ago."

"What?! But that makes it the second time he fainted today! And he had just woken up two hours ago! Thank you for telling me, Hakuren-kun." Rosalie then turned and called to a group of nuns a few feet away. They were holding a large potato sac, some rope and duck tape. "Sorry, but we'll have to postpone the "Kidnap-Teito-kun-in-a-bag-and-drag-him-down-to-ea t-food" Project. It seems that Teito is back in the infirmary."

"Oh no, not again!" one of the sisters said.

"And I got all excited over nothing," another stated sadly.

"Well, I'm sure we can execute our plans some other time," the last nun reassured.

"Alright lets go put all this stuff back and prepare a large snack for Teito-kun when he wakes up!" Rosalie said excitedly.

"...Wida-kun, you know when I told you I find it hard to believe the nuns would actually kidnap Teito?" Hakuren said after a long pause.

"Yes?"

"I change my mind. I'll try not to doubt you next time."

* * *

*The next morning.*

When Hakuren woke up at 6:00 a.m., he again got dressed before going down to the cafeteria for breakfast. Hakuren still hadn't seen Teito yet and Teito's bed still looked like it did before Teito came to the dorm.

"He must still be in the infirmary," Hakuren said out loud to himself.

After breakfast, Hakuren went walking through the church grounds. Around him nuns, bishops and examinees were walking to and fro, hurrying to get their tasks complete. _Well, today is the day the major funerals are going to take place_.

When Hakuren got tired of the scenery, he began walking to the library, only to be stopped by a group of children.

"Mister, mister!" the one in the middle called out.

Hakuren stopped to face them, asking, "Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"

"A letter for you, Hakuren Oak!" The one on the left replied. After the one on the right handed the letter to Hakuren, the group of children ran off to the garden. Hakuren looked down at the letter. Wait, that seal. It's the Oak family's crest!

Immediately, Hakuren opened the envelope and began to read.

_Dear Hakuren Oak,_

_You may or may not have known, but I, Atsuhiko Oak, as the younger brother of Wakaba Oak, has been named temporary head of the Oak estate until Shuri Oak, the current heir to the Oak estate, has passed the military exams and has thus become part of the military. As my son, you are required to attend your uncle's funeral at the Oak Estate in a few days time, whether you like it or not. You must also stay at the Oak estate until Shuri Oak has passed the exam. If he does not pass the exam in three years time, or if he dies, you, Hakuren Oak, are expected to take his place. Within this envelope is the invitation to the funeral. An escort should arrive at the Barsburg Church tomorrow morning. __Your mother has been feeling quite lonely without you. Why not come and pay her a visit too? We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her, now would we? (6)  
_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Atsuhiko Oak._

* * *

(1) One of Mikhail's abilities include that of being able to listen to other people from long distances. (Kapitel 11: Nightmare, part 2)

(2) Since Teito's soul is still having difficulties merging with his soul (the real reason will be disclosed in later chapters), Teito may get angry or stressed out easier and may seem a bit OOC because of that. Teito will also be experiencing more nightmares from now on.

(3) The small voice here is part of Hakuren's future emotions which managed to be preserved. It represented Hakuren's future worry and concern towards Teito's wellbeing after Houborg fortress was in a state of panic. It wanted to go back to Houborg Fortress to save Teito. It was just a MEMORY. It isn't conscious, so it doesn't know that Teito was back at the church.

(4) To be revealed later on. This is a really important point.

(5) In this story, there are a total of 10 groups of students that come to use the training room each day. Each group is lead by a different nun. Each group has a total of 20-30 applicants who get to practice in the Kors' water palace for two hours at a time. Examinees can only join a group once a day. Wida and Liam joined the ninth group to the watery palace. Teito _would_ have gone with the tenth and last group of the day if he had not fallen unconscious.

(6) Subtle threat alert, subtle threat alert!

If I am making no sense whatsoever, or if there are grammatical errors, please tell me.

* * *

Thank you for reading! In the next chapter, the time travelers will be reunited. If they don't, I'll make sure to steal Ayanami's hat and blame it on Teito. (And Labrador is a boy, NOT a girl!)

By the way, I just noticed that I never asked you readers to review, so I'll ask now: REVIEW! :D


	6. Thank you

A/N: I have closed the poll. I would like to thank those eleven people for voting.

Ouka: Author-san will post the next chapter as soon as she can.

Teito: And as a bonus, here's an excerpt from the next chapter!

* * *

Hakuren read the letter, stopped at the second line, read the letter from the beginning, stopped at the end, reread the whole letter again. His expression changed from shock, to anger and finally to helplessness and frustration. At the end, Hakuren crumpled the letter and threw it on the ground as hard as he could, before running off.

_What do I do? What do I do? I don't want to go back to my father! I want to stay away from the Oak estate, as well!_ Hakuren stopped running, his hair hiding his eyes in shadows. _But if I don't go, then father will probably harm mother. I don't want mother to be hurt but I don't want to go back to the Oak family. Three years, three whole years! And I know for a fact that Shuri won't pass that begleiter exam. He's too much of an idiot._

Hakuren looked down at the envelop still in his hand. He sighs and walks back to the dorms. _I should go back to the dorms. I don't feel like studying today..._

"Hello, there. Are you alright?" a kind voice asked from behind.

* * *

Castor had spent all of yesterday's evening and most of the night with Labrador and Frau as they tried to determine which plant Labrador could stand being in the presence of. It seemed that Labrador had a very strong negative reaction when coming to face a wild but common flower, but could tolerate flowers that were grown domesticated. Common flowers in general gave her a headache, but when he came to face rare flowers, Labrador could hear nothing being spoken from the flowers. However, they finally came to the decision that Labrador worked best with rare varieties of flowers and the silver rose.

* * *

*Flashback*

"Common flowers are too chatty, especially lilies," Labrador commented. "They like talking too much. That lily in particular is way too vain. It kept on talking about how pretty its petals were, how the sun seems to love shining on it and how the rain always makes the droplets that fell on it seem like diamonds."

"...Should we be worried?" Frau asked. He was in his coffin, lying on his stomach as he watched the "flower examination," as he had dubbed the whole experience.

"No I don't believe so," Castor had replied. "It's just Labrador being Labrador."

"Hmmm... these rare flowers don't talk at all. It certainly is better than chatty lilies, but after a while, it starts to get to you. Really, how can people stand not having the constant stream of whispers of flowers. Don't they start feeling a bit insane? It's like no one's paying any attention to you!" Labrador complained.

"Usually its the other way around..." Frau muttered, trying to rub sleep from his eyes.

"And, ah! The silver rose! It's perfect!" Labrador said as the sister doll gave him the flower pot. "Look at it! It's absolute perfection."

"How?" Frau asked, yawning.

"The silver rose isn't at all like those chatty flowers and it isn't silent at all. In fact it's telling me that I should go get my environmentally-safe hair sprays and contact lenses from my closet and give them to Teito-kun in the morning! It also says to go to sleep now so good night!" With that Labrador walked as fast as he could out of the room and down to his bedroom to go to sleep.

"...What just happened? I'm too tired to pay much attention," Frau said.

"...Labrador is just being Labrador," Castor told Frau as he began writing down notes. "The fatigue probably got to him. Alright, then. So Labrador can't stand chatty flowers. Rare flowers are alright, but they are too silent. Silver roses tell Labrador what to do. Not exactly predictions, more like dictations on what to do next, doesn't give explanations," Castor counted off. "Did I miss something, Frau?"

"Zzzz..."

"Frau?" Castor looked up to see that Frau had already went to sleep.

*End of Flashback*

* * *

Teito: Labrador-san is acting weird...

Lance: Master Lab probably wanted to go to sleep but didn't want to hurt Glasses' or Frau's feelings!


	7. Read

*IMPORTANT*

First of all I want to apologize for not updating for so long. I got bogged with homework so I couldn't work on it. Not only that, I recently got an idea to write a Harry Potter and Blue Exorxist crossover.

Secondly, I suddenly got some ideas you guys probably won't like:

Evil!Frau (possessed by an evil spirit)

Manipulative!Castor (not evil)

Nice!Labrador

I'm not changing it unless it doesnt fit with the way I want the story to go.

Third, I'm going to update the next chapter sometime this week or next week

(By the way, I'm writing and publishing this thing from my iphone! :D)


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